


Uncanny Valley

by cavedinwriter



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: 45 chapters is a guess so its subject to change, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Graphic descriptions of violence, Hurt/Comfort, Its got three parts but they’re all together, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Canon, Slow Burn, The Connor/Markus isnt quite in the background but its not the main storyline, Took the rating down a bit, a big mess of all the timelines basically, and I mean very slow rip, ill prolly bump it back up when shit starts going down but that’ll take a while, updates weekly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2020-01-14 11:45:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 46,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18475579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cavedinwriter/pseuds/cavedinwriter
Summary: Uncanny Valleynounused in reference to the phenomenon whereby a computer-generated figure or humanoid robot bearing a near-identical resemblance to a human being arouses a sense of unease or revulsion in the person viewing it.As the world ground to a halt in the wake of the failed Android Revolution Gavin found that so too did his life. He slogged through work as best he could until one day he started on a case that had much bigger implications than anyone thought.





	1. Slipping Lately

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! This is a fic I’ve been planning for a while so I’m really excited to finally be posting the first chapter! I hope you enjoy it was much as I have writing it.  
> I’ll give warnings here in the notes if I think there’s anything I should warn about in each chapter, but after reading if theres something you think I should give a warning about but didn’t, please let me know!  
> There’s a little bit of description of a wound here, so if that bothers you, just avoid the stuff between the // \\\\.  
> Enjoy!

 

**Part 1: Uncanny Valley**

 

Gavin was pretty much about to fall asleep at his desk. He was absolutely fucking exhausted, and had been for weeks. Everyone at the DPD had been working double time in wake of the failed revolution. All the Policing Androids (as well as every other type of Android) had been sent back to CyberLife.

    He also wasn’t sure when the last time he showered was. All the routine in his life had been thrown to the wind, and that shit did not work for him at all. Sometimes the routine was the only thing that kept him going, and now he was running solely on coffee and 5-hour-energies.

    Well, and his cats. And his one (1) friend, Tina Chen. God, she was a fucking lifesaver. She’d bought him some dry shampoo a while ago and it had come in really fucking handy over the past few days. She also made sure he actually went home and slept, even if it was for only a few hours. He did his best to look out for her too, but it was getting harder and harder.

    She was getting sent out to look into complaints from “worried citizens” so often now that he hardly saw her in the bullpen anymore. He knew that she was really exhausted from all the running around, but none of them were getting time to recuperate. God, Gavin never thought he’d find himself wishing for the Androids back, but they really needed the extra hands.

    She’d just gone out a few minutes ago to check out another complaint. Most of them came to nothing, just people hearing weird noises or seeing things. He supposed he couldn’t blame people for being on edge, but there really weren’t any deviants running around and stabbing people like everyone thought. No, he thought bitterly, the government had made sure of that.

    It wasn’t as though he was all pro-fuckin-Android now, but the way the government had chosen to deal with the revolution hadn’t sat right with him. It still didn’t.

    Gavin let out a soft groan and stretched, then picked up his coffee. Empty. Great. He stood from his chair and made his way to the break room. He made himself another cup of coffee and leaned against one of the tables as he waited for it to cool.

    He opened his phone, checking the news.

    **Elijah Kamski to return to CyberLife-**

    God, that fucking story had been everywhere. He didn’t want to see anything about the fucker right then. He shut his phone off with a sigh and stalked back towards his desk. Before he could make it back to his desk, a commotion in the bullpen stopped him in his tracks.

There were several officers dragging a handcuffed, slumped over figure with- fuck, was that blood dripping off of him? Other officers were swarming around them already, and in the center of it all stood Tina.

She was clutching her right arm, which was torn and bleeding. Holy shit. Gavin practically threw his coffee onto his desk as he rushed over.

“Holy shit, what happened?” He said. Tina looked up at him and grimaced.

“That asshole did,” She spat, jerking her head towards the figure being dragged away, “Fucking bit me.”

“Bit you?” Gavin said, and she nodded.

“Fuck, Gav, I need to get to a hospital.” She glanced down at her arm, and he did too.

//

There was indeed a large bite mark on her arm, and it looked like it went really deep. The marks from the teeth were ragged, and there were… an alarming number of them. Whoever did it had more than the average amount of teeth. It was still gushing blood, despite the scrap of fabric she was trying to press against it. She also had a large bruise blossoming on her right cheek, along with some raised scratch marks on her cheek and chin.

\\\

“I’ll drive you.” A concerned voice piped up from behind them. It was Chris.

“I don’t mind.” Gavin said, and Chris shook his head.

“No, I think I heard Fowler saying he wants you on the case. You gotta go talk to him.”

“Oh jeez, good luck with that guy, Gav.” Tina made a face, and then turned to Chris, “Alright, let’s get going. I’m about to pass out from blood loss, pain, or maybe both.” Her tone was light, but she wasn’t really joking.

Gavin gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder as Chris led her out to the parking lot, then he turned to Fowler’s office and steeled his nerves. He cast one last glance at Tina and Chris, then walked up the steps and opened the glass door to the Captain’s office.

“Reed.” Fowler didn’t look happy to see him, but then again no one really looked happy to see Gavin except his cats.

“Captain. Chris told me you wanted to see me?”

“I want you to deal with… whatever it was that happened to Officer Chen. Seems like there’s something there.” He sounded tired, and stressed. Granted, he was usually pretty stressed, but now he was a quiet kind of stressed. It was unnerving.

“Got it.” Gavin didn’t have the energy to argue at all. He wanted to have a word with the fucker that did that to her, anyway.

Since Fowler didn’t seem like he had anything else to say, Gavin left. He sat down at his desk and took a long sip of his neglected coffee. God, he was worried about Tina. She’d probably be fine, he knew she’d had worse, but that didn’t stop the worry gnawing at his stomach.

He was jolted out of his thoughts by a sudden buzz from his phone. He fished it out of his pocket and sighed with relief when he saw it was a text from Tina. If she was okay enough to text him, she was going to be fine.

_Hey dumbass_

_U get a look at the perp yet?_

**_No, why?_ **

_Oh lmaooooo have fun w that_

**_????_ **

_Ur gonna have a fucking heart attack lolllll_

Gavin stared down in confusion at his phone, then put it back in his pocket. He took another sip of coffee and then stood up, deciding to go take a look at the guy. Because apparently he was going to have a heart attack. Great.

He strode over to the cells towards the back of the building. There was a commotion over by one of them, so he guessed that it held the perp. He shoved his way to the front, people clearing out a little to let him look. No one really wanted to get in his way. Among them was Hank, which was a little surprising. As he shoved his way to the front, he saw Hank stumbling away out of the corner of his eye.

At first glance, the figure in the cell seemed to be passed out, but as soon as Gavin shoved to the front, he awoke. The snarl he let out made others gasp and take a few steps back, but Gavin was rooted to the spot. He couldn’t move.

The figure was clearly an Android, even with the lack of an LED on his temple. The ‘whites’ of his eyes were a glittering black, with glowing red irises. His eyelashes were thick and matched the black of his eyes. His synthetic skin was pale, and there was an itching familiarity to his face that Gavin couldn’t place, because holy fuck his _jaw._

His lower jaw looked like it was fucking unhinged, the entire lower half of his face from cheekbone to the corners of his mouth on each side was detached. Gavin could see teeth extending further back into his mouth than was possible for any human, sticking out of electric blue gums. His tongue was the same electric blue.

As if that wasn’t freaky enough, the fucker was still covered in Tina’s blood. It stood out starkly against the blue and white of his gums and teeth, and was dried on his chin and shirt. Gavin had to fight the urge to gag. He didn’t know when, but he’d started to sweat just from looking at the guy.

The Android’s irises started to slowly circle to yellow, then to blue and Gavin realized with a start that his eyes were his LED. What the everloving fuck? He’d never seen a model like this. Taking a deep, shuddering breath and trying not to show his alarm, he took a few steps backwards.

The Android’s eyes were still fixed intensely on him, and Gavin would be lying if he said he wasn’t intimidated. Hell, he was pretty much ready to shit his pants. Was he going to show that? Fuck no. He took a few more careful steps backwards, then turned on his heels in what he hoped was a cool way, and walked back to his desk. He could feel the Android’s gaze burning into him the entire time.

He took several nervous sips of coffee in an attempt to calm himself down. Goddamn, that was the scariest thing he’d seen in a fucking while. Tina had been remarkably composed, coming back after being attacked by _that._ She was probably in shock.

He pulled his phone out and typed a message to her.

**_You were right, nearly shit my pants seeing that fucker_ **

**_Call me when u can_ **

About half an hour later, he got a reply.

_Text me when ur home, I’ll call u then_

_They fixed my arm_

_I think_

Gavin chuckled. He was glad that he got out of work soon, he was completely exhausted. He was going to try to go to bed early tonight, because he could already tell he was gonna need all his fucking energy for this case. He had a feeling there was a lot more to this than ‘weird Android squatting in a house’.

How had they missed him when rounding up all the Androids? Not that he wanted them to find all the Androids, but unfortunately, he knew the government had been thorough. He’d seen the shit that they did to the Androids who resisted or tried to run away.

He shook his head to clear it and began to pack his bag to go home. He was going to go home, eat dinner, talk to Tina and bury himself in his cats. Yeah, that sounded good. No worrying about work.

It was still light when he left the precinct, which still felt unfamiliar even though it had been spring for a little while now. As he walked to the bus stop, he texted Tina.

**_On my way home. Call me in 30_ **

He boarded the bus and sat down. He cast a glance to the blocked off Android compartment in the back and shuddered. The ride was thankfully uneventful, not that he really expected any different.

His phone began to ring as he climbed the steps to his apartment. He pulled it out and hit answer.

“Hey, you!” Tina’s cheerful but tired voice greeted him.

“Hey. How’s your arm doing?” He asked.

“It hurts like hell, but I’ll be okay. He didn’t hit bone, miraculously.” She said.

“That’s good. You better heal up soon, or I’ll kick your ass.”

“That seems a little counterproductive.” She snickered.

“Yeah, whatever.” He said.

“So, you got a look at the guy, huh?” She asked.

“Yeah. There’s something familiar about him, I can’t place it.” Gavin said while he opened his front door.

“You’re right.” She was silent for a moment, thinking.

Gavin thought back to the itching familiarity of his face, searching his memory. His eyes widened when he realized.

“Wait, he- he looks like Connor.” Gavin said. It had taken a bit of putting together (literally, his face was split apart), but now that he’d realized it… He looked just like him.

“Oh my god,” Tina said, “You’re totally right. That’s creepy!”

“Yeah it is.” Gavin shuddered.

“Alright, well, I should probably go to bed. The drugs they gave me feel like they’re kicking in.” She said, and for the first time he noticed how tired she sounded.

“Yeah, get some sleep.”

“You too, alright dumbass?” She teased.

“I will, don’t worry. I’m gonna need it,” he shuddered thinking about the Android, “Goodnight, T.”

“Night.”

With that, he shut his phone off. He filled his cats bowls to satiate their yowling, then parked himself on the couch. He turned on the TV and flicked mindlessly through the channels for a while. Goddamn Elijah was all over the news again. He didn’t even look that happy to be back in control of his gigantic fucking company. Gavin turned the TV off with a disdainful snort.

He wasn’t in the mood to think about him. He wasn’t ever in the mood to think about him, really, but the timing was pretty fucking bad. Stupid Elijah was probably gonna make a fuckton more money making deviancy-resistant Androids, while Gavin would have to slog through the aftermath of the revolution.

Gavin stood up and went to his bathroom. He grimaced as he looked in the mirror. He looked like shit, and that was putting it delicately. Bags under his eyes, messy stubble, greasy hair. He knew he needed to take a shower or something, but he was too exhausted. To exhausted to even wash his face. He turned away from the mirror and sighed, going into his bedroom. He shucked off his clothes and collapsed into bed, barely remembering to check if he’d set an alarm.


	2. Run Boy, Run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe they should have stayed put. Could it really have been any worse than this? Connor didn’t want to be deactivated and reactivated again to be experimented on, but he didn’t care for running around in the dark trying not to be caught either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m back bois  
> Based on what response this (and possibly the next) chapter gets, I may or may not put this fic on hold for a little. If you don’t want me to put it on hold, please leave a comment to let me know! I just don’t want to put a ton of effort towards this if folks aren’t enjoying it

Connor shivered and tucked himself tighter into his sweatshirt. The sun was going down, and it was almost time to get moving again. He was tired of the running and the hiding. At least he still had Markus with him.

He turned to look at the other Android, sitting in stasis next to him. He should probably wake him up, but… he looked so peaceful there. He didn’t want to wake him and cast him back into the harsh world again. Swallowing back a sigh, he shook Markus’s shoulder.

“Wake up,” he whispered, “It’s time to go.” Markus’s mismatched eyes blinked open, and he turned to Connor. They both stood up, and Connor scanned the room quickly. Nothing had changed, and he felt relief with an underlying feeling of regret. He was glad that the two of them were safe, at least.

The room was cold, abandoned, like all of the places they’d been hiding. There were piles of rubble everywhere, and dust coating every surface. At least no one would think to look for them in places like this. 

Well, he’d thought no one would think of it. But with what happened last week… he couldn’t be sure. Markus’s voice shook him out of his thoughts.

“Connor, where are we going next?” He asked gently. Connor didn’t like how he’d been treating him, recently. Like he was going to break. He wasn’t fragile. He was fine! He could do this.

“We have to keep heading north.” He said.

“I know, but is there a place we can stay?” He asked gently.

“I-I don’t know. I think we’ll have to find another building like this.” He said guiltily. He saw Markus try his best not to deflate.

“Alright.” The other Android started towards the door.

“I’m sorry,” Connor said, “I wish we didn’t have to do this.” He kept walking out the door even as Markus paused.

“It’s not your fault, Connor.” Markus said, catching up to him. Connor felt a chill wash over his synthetic skin as they got outside.

It was 9:02 pm, and the air was cool. The sky was clear, and Connor was sure he would have thought it a beautiful night under any other circumstances.

“I know.” Was all he said in response as he started off down the street. He scanned it quickly to make sure they wouldn’t run into anyone. In truth, he really didn’t know if it was his fault or not. Maybe they should have stayed put. Could it really have been any worse than this? He didn’t want to be deactivated and reactivated again to be experimented on, but he didn’t care for running around in the dark trying not to be caught either. He stifled a sigh.

“We couldn’t have stayed there, Connor. You know that.” Markus said, putting a hand on his shoulder as they walked. Connor was grateful for the dark, hiding the way his face probably flushed.

“I know,” he repeated, “But… maybe we should’ve stayed at the first place.” He felt guilty just thinking about it. Markus sighed.

“That was no way to live. Soon we won’t have to hide anymore, though!” He tried to keep his voice bright.

“I guess you’re right.” He said, and then fell silent. He kept a brisk pace, turning down alleys whenever they approached busy streets. Markus stayed close behind him.

He kept an eye out for buildings that looked like they could hold a spot for the two of them. They were reaching the edge of town, so it wasn’t too difficult to spot abandoned buildings. The harder part was finding a place they could get into easily, and that would be stable enough.

Connor was honestly a little curious as to why they weren’t being more actively tracked. He knew deviants trackers stopped working, but it still felt off. He didn’t dwell on it too long, though. He didn’t let himself. It sent him down a bad spiral of thoughts that he didn’t want to deal with.

“How about that one?” Markus’s voice cut through the quiet. Connor jerked his head up to look at the building he was pointing at.

It was an empty house, moldy and crumbling, but with sturdy walls and a solid roof. Connor nodded.

“That will work.” He said, flashing a small smile to Markus. They changed course, crossing the dimly lit street and carefully picking their way up the crumbled concrete steps. Connor tried the front door. He was disappointed but not surprised to find it locked.

“Let’s try a back window or something.” Markus said. Connor nodded and followed him silently to the back of the house. They found a window that was already broken, with a rotting plank of wood boarding it shut. Markus gave it an experimental tug, and it was weak enough for him to pull off. He gestured to the window, looking expectantly at Connor.

He analyzed the distance between himself and the window, and then ran at it. He grabbed the frame and vaulted inside, but his foot caught on some of the remaining glass. He tumbled to the floor of the bathroom that it led to, broken glass around him. He stood and stepped away from the window, face flushing blue as Markus did the same thing as him but without fumbling.

He landed gracefully, and turned expectantly to Connor. Connor opened the bathroom door and stepped out into the hall. He scanned as he did it, relieved to find no signs of anyone else squatting in the house. He really should have done that before entering the hallway, but he was too exhausted to really pay attention.

He and Markus quickly found a bedroom that had its windows completely covered in plywood. Perfect. They didn’t want to risk anyone seeing them through the windows, however unlikely it was. Connor sat down on the bed, and Markus did too.

Markus pulled a tiny sketchbook out of one of his jacket pockets and leaned back against the ancient bed frame. It probably wasn’t a good idea to be sitting on a moldy bed, but they were both too tired to care.

Connor stared into space, lost in thought as Markus began to sketch. The sound of his pencil scratching against paper was strangely soothing. Connor closed his eyes, letting himself slip into stasis and rest.

When he awoke again, it was still dark out. Markus closed his sketchbook with a gentle smack when Connor turned to face him.

“How’re you feeling?” He asked, sliding his sketchbook back into his pocket.

“I’m fine. It felt good to rest,” Connor turned around to face him, “What were you drawing?”

“Oh, nothing.” Markus said quickly. Connor raised an eyebrow.

“Really?”

“I- fine,” Markus huffed, pulling out his sketchbook and handing it over, “Here.”

Connor gingerly took it from him and flipped it open to the most recent page. On one side there were sketches of the window and the dirty radiator, and the other page… the other page was a sketch of Connor. It was his profile with his eyes serenely closed, soft light highlighting his cheekbones.

“Markus… this is incredible.” He looked up with wonder. Markus ducked his head.

“The lighting on your face when you were sleeping… I wanted to capture it.” He said quietly. Connor was sure his face was flushing blue.

“It’s beautiful.” Still in awe, he handed the sketchbook back to Markus.

“You should get some more rest. I’ll keep watch and wake you up when we need to go.” He said, and Connor nodded.

“Alright.” Once again, he let his eyes slide shut.

 

Connor awoke the next night to a firm hand on his shoulder. His eyes fluttered open to see Markus looking at him.

“Connor, I found something.”

“What?” It took him a moment to form a coherent thought, still staring at Markus’s eyes as he came out of stasis, “What did you find?”

“There’s a car that hasn’t been used in a long time in the alley. We could take it.”

“Oh, good. Will it run?” He asked, standing up.

“I don’t know,” Markus said, worrying his lip between his teeth, “I didn’t want to go outside to check. I just saw it out the window.” Connor nodded, and glanced outside. It was dark, so they could probably go out and check without being seen.

“Let’s go take a look.” He said, and Markus nodded. He led him outside(both of them carefully climbing out the same window they came in) and into the alley. There was the car.

Connor gave it a quick scan. Miraculously, it still had enough charge to get them somewhere, although where they would go he didn’t know. He easily hacked into the electronic locks. Distantly, he thought that cars should really have better locking systems. He and Markus climbed in.

He kept an eye out for any lit up windows, a sign that someone might see them. Thankfully, the city was mostly dark around them. Markus looked at the GPS and set a destination outside of the city bounds.

“Once we get outside of Detroit, we can figure it out from there.” He said. 

“We’re really going to Canada, huh?” He asked softly. Markus turned to him, concern in his eyes.

“Yeah, I thought that was the plan.”

“I guess. It just… it feels wrong.” He said helplessly.

“I know. I don’t like this any more than you do, but we can get help there. We’ll be safe. We’ll be free, Connor, no Android laws!” Markus was trying to cheer him up, and he appreciated it, but it wasn’t working.

“None  _ yet _ ,” he countered, “Things are going to start changing. They saw what happened here.” Markus’s smile faded.

“It’ll be okay. We can try again.”

“Do you mean the revolution, or…?” Connor trailed off, not even sure what the ‘or’ would have been.

“I don’t know, Connor.” Markus sighed. There was something about the way that Markus said his name that time that made Connor’s Thirium pump twist a little in his chest. It was soft, and sad. It wasn’t like him.

They didn’t speak as the car got them onto the mostly empty highway. Connor was grateful for self-driving cars in this instance. It meant he didn’t have to focus on anything as they sped along. 

He saw Markus’s eyes flutter shut after a while, and Connor allowed himself a small smile. They could both go into stasis at the same time, now. It had been a while since they’d been able to do that. 

 

After several hours, Connor heard a beeping sound from the car. He opened his eyes, fearing the worst, but sighed with relief when he saw that the car was simply alerting them that they had arrived at their destination. It was still dark outside, but it was approaching sunrise.

Markus woke, too, and looked over at Connor. He smiled softly, and Connor couldn’t help but smile back. The destination Markus had chosen was a small rest stop, and luckily there was no one around.

“Should we go stretch our legs?” Markus asked.

“Yeah, that would be nice.” Connor said. They stepped out together, and Connor sighed at the feeling of the cool night air against his sensors. He gasped when he looked up. They were far enough from the city that the light pollution didn’t reach, and the sky was fairly clear. He could see stars peeking through the gaps in the clouds.

“Wow.” He breathed, and he saw Markus nod beside him.

“Me and Carl used to look at stars, sometimes,” his quiet voice startled Connor a little, “But we never went out here. Never to where it was really clear of light pollution. Carl wasn’t a fan of long drives.” He chuckled, soft and sad again, and Connor wanted to reach out to him. To comfort him. He couldn’t.

“It’s really lovely out here.” He said instead.

They stood in silence under the stars for a minute more, and then Connor wordlessly turned back towards the car. He was about to get inside when he noticed something on the ground. A piece of a wooden sign, it looked like. He picked it up, and felt a rush of emotion staring at it suddenly. On it was a small symbol that he recognized. His voice nearly broke as he called Markus to come look at it.

He could tell that there were similar thoughts running through Markus’s head as he looked at it. Connor scanned the symbol, and as he did all the other scans he’d done came up. All the symbols that had guided him to Jericho.

This time, instead of a piece of graffiti with another symbol tucked away inside, a different thing burned itself into his brain. An address. It was showing him an address, and a single word.

They locked eyes. Clearly, Markus had gotten the same thing. Markus clambered quickly into the car and punched the address in.

There was silence again as the car began to drive, but this was a different silence. Gone was the uncomfortable tiredness of before. Now, there was an impatience to the quiet. A restlessness, even though neither of them moved as the car hummed along.

They finally had direction. They could only hope that they were really being led someplace safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’ll be back to Gavin next week don’t you worry(things will start kicking up for him >:)))) )


	3. Interroductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m Detective Gavin Reed,” he said, staring RK900 down. RK900 didn’t respond that he knew that already. He didn’t respond with anything at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back to our main boys! Hope you like the wordplay in the chapter title(mostly I just hope it’s not stupid lmao)

Gavin thanked his lucky stars that he woke up feeling rested. Well, more rested than he had in awhile. That counted, right? He needed all the energy he could get for the day ahead of him. He was going to be interrogating that creepy Android today. Fuck. He shivered just thinking about him.

He rolled out of bed, grabbed some clothes, and then headed to the bathroom. He finally had time to shower after days of being too busy. The water was hot as it flowed over his skin and he let out a sigh. The feeling of the sweat and grime being washed away was wonderful.

His hair was greasy as he ran his hands through it, and he grimaced. The shampoo made quick work of the grease though, and it felt good to have clean hair again. The smell of cigarettes that hung around him was washed away. He put conditioner in his hair and relished how soft it now felt. Already his muscles felt looser as he climbed out and dried off. He was more relaxed than he’d been in weeks. He put on his clean clothes and padded into the kitchen, where his cats were waiting for him. They purred as he petted each of them in turn.

Gavin felt bad that he hadn’t been able to spend much time with them lately. He knew they didn’t get too lonely, since they had each other, but he didn’t like being so busy he didn’t get time to play with them or anything. He scooped Mousetrap up and placed the cat on his shoulders. He could hear her purring, and it soothed him even more.

Fuck that Android at work, he wasn’t gonna let him ruin his day. He was clean, relaxed, and he had his cats. For the first time in a long time, he felt like things might shake out alright.

 

Unfortunately, Gavin’s good mood didn’t last long. It’s not as if he didn’t try to stay positive, but coming in to a hectic workplace and remembering you have to interrogate the scariest looking Android you’ve ever seen doesn’t do wonders for your mood.

He immediately went to make himself a cup of coffee, but then thought better of it and made a cup of tea instead. He didn’t want to be jittery all day. He sipped it as he made his way back to his desk, where he was surprised to see Tina sitting. Her arm was in a sling.

“‘Sup, asshole?” She called when he approached.

“Morning, dipstick. I thought you didn’t break anything, what’s the sling for?” He motioned to it with his cup as he sat down.

“It’s just to keep my arm still so the wound doesn’t reopen.” She explained. He nodded.

“Hey, so, guess who gets to interrogate the fucker that did that to you?”

“Hm, let me guess…” she snorted, “you?”

“Yep,” he leaned back and sighed, “God, I’m not looking forward to this.”

“You really think that it’s worth interrogating him about? I mean, I’m sure there’s deviants squatting in houses all over.”

“Yeah, but… I’ve never seen an Android like him before. Plus, you’ve been sent out looking for said squatting Androids, and you haven’t found anyone. There’s something off about this, I know it.”

“Fair enough.” She conceded.

  
  


RK900 sat silently in his cell. He had decided his best course of action was to wait and see what was going on. It wouldn’t go well if he escaped right then.

He’d been surprised to actually recognize the officer who had found him, and the detective who had come by the day before. Not from personal experience, obviously, but at least he knew something about them. It was quite lucky that he had ended up at the precinct that he did. Well, at least, he hoped it was lucky. Only time would tell.

It was 11:26 am when the detective approached his cell again, two other officers in tow. He didn’t say anything to RK900, simply grabbed him and led him to a cold, unfriendly concrete room. He was sat down unceremoniously at a metal table and handcuffed to it. 

The humans left the room, going behind into the room with the huge two way mirror. He knew they were watching him, and it made him uncomfortable. He wasn’t going to show that, though, no way. Instead, he sat silently, patiently, until the detective entered the room again.

“I’m Detective Gavin Reed,” he said, staring RK900 down. RK900 didn’t respond that he knew that already. He didn’t respond with anything at all. Gavin continued, “Who the hell are you?”

He clearly didn’t like RK900’s silence, because he was already bristling. “What model are you?” RK900 almost snorted. It was right on his shirt, was this guy stupid? 

“Hey, dipshit, I’m talking to you!” The detective growled, slamming a hand on the table next to RK900. RK900 slowly raised his head to look Gavin coldly in the eyes, making his stress level increase by 30%. Good.

“Why’d you attack my friend? And what were you doing in that house, anyway?” He glared down at RK900, who said nothing still.

“Alright, fine, don’t say anything!” He took a few steps back, raising his hands in surrender, “We can just send you back to CyberLife, then I don’t have to deal with your creepy ass.” RK900’s gaze snapped back onto him, eyes flashing red.

“No.” He said quickly, quietly, before he could stop himself.  _ Shit.  _ Gavin smirked at him, a look in his eyes that RK900 didn’t like.

“Oh, so you can talk, huh?” He sat down slowly across from him, metal chair screeching across the floor. RK900 stayed silent again, prompting Gavin to frown, “Listen, asshole. I’m not inclined to be any sort of polite to you. You mangled my best friend’s arm, and if you don’t talk, I’ll do a lot fucking than that worse to you.” 

“I’m an RK900 model.” He said in response to his earlier question, practically hissing which caused the detective’s heart rate to spike satisfyingly.

“Mmm.” Gavin sat back in his chair, clearly trying to keep his cool, “And why did you do that to my friend, huh? Just hate cops that much?”

“I’m starting to.” RK900 growled, baring his teeth. He wasn’t scared of Gavin.

“Charming,” Gavin curled his lip, “But I don’t have time for this. I’m going to ask you one more time,” his voice got quiet, threatening, “Why did you do that to Tina?”

“I was defending myself.” RK900 raised his chin.

“Bullshit.”

“I was. She tried to grab me.”

“So you were resisting arrest. That’s illegal, you know.” Gavin attempted to stare him down. RK900 said nothing, “You know it’s only gonna be worse for you if you don’t say anything.”

RK900 glared up at him, snarling a little. It caused another jump in his heart rate. The detective leaned back in his chair a little, clearly unnerved. RK900 let his jaw unhinge the slightest bit, resisting a smirk when the man’s face twitched.

“Jesus Christ, you’re one creepy piece of shit.” He said, fighting to keep his voice steady.

He stood up, pushing the chair back with a loud screech, and sauntered back behind the two-way mirror. Still trying to seem unbothered.

“Stupid piece of plastic won’t talk.” RK900 heard him call as he exited.

 

RK900 found himself dragged into that same room many times over the course of the next week. It was just as unpleasant each time, but he still refused to speak. He could tell that Detective Reed was getting irritated, but he didn’t care. 

He knew if he said anything, he could be putting not only himself at risk. So, he kept his mouth shut. Except for when he needed to remind Reed that he could tear him apart. It was almost funny how only a quick glance of RK900’s teeth shut the detective up.

It was starting to have less effect on him, though. The fourth time he found himself in the room, it only caused a small jump in his heart rate. The detective was getting used to him.

“Alright, asshole, listen,” the detective started, clearly not in a good mood already, “You’re gonna answer my fucking questions, or we’re gonna ship your ass off to CyberLife to get reset or whatever. I’m tired of this bullshit.”

RK900 simply stared at him. He tried his best to seem unimpressed, but really the threat of being sent back to CyberLife… worked. Unfortunately.

“What were you doing in that house?” Reed continued.

“Hiding.” RK900 spat.

“Hiding from who?” He asked, a little surprised to actually be given an answer. RK900 said nothing else, and Gavin huffed, “Was there anyone else with you?” RK900 stiffened, hoping the detective wouldn’t notice.

“I was alone in that house.” At least he could say that honestly.

“Huh,” the detective leaned back in his chair, “I certainly like you a lot more when you’re cooperating.”

“I don’t care how you like me, Detective.” RK900 said coldly, and Gavin snorted.

“So, you were hiding. How the hell did you manage to not get rounded up, huh?” He continued, leaning forward. RK900 tensed again. He stayed silent.

“Fucking talk, dammit!” Gavin shouted, and RK900 curled his lip. The Detective was so… volatile.

“I didn’t.” Was all he said.

“You obviously did, you’re not at fucking CyberLife right now.”

“I didn’t.” He insisted. Gavin leaned back in his chair, growled, and then stood up.

“We’re not done here, got it?” He jabbed a finger towards RK900.

“I take it you’re not sending me back to CyberLife?” It was… almost an attempt at a joke, but RK900 also desperately needed to know.

“No,” the Detective seemed reluctant to admit, “No. You talked. Sort of.” He gave another growl before leaving the room.

 

“I don’t understand. I’m still barely getting anything out of him.” Gavin complained later as he lay on his couch. He was on the phone with Tina.

“Have you gotten anything?”

“Yeah. He seems to freak out if I mention CyberLife. He really doesn’t wanna be sent back there.”

“Maybe you can use that,” she mused, “If you find out more about it…”

“I sort of did. I threatened to send him back there if he didn’t talk today. It kinda worked.”

“Well, that’s a start I guess. You should try to find out more about him. See what else you can use.” 

“You’re right.”

“Of course I am. I’m sure you’ll get something useful out of him soon.” She said.

“Yeah,” Gavin shifted, “Hey, how’re you doing?”

“Me? Eh. I’m tired, but that’s kind of a constant state for all of us recently.”

“Sure is.” Gavin heaved a sigh.

“Other than that… I’m holding up pretty okay.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“I mean, other than the mangled arm.” She laughed, and Gavin did too.

“Yeah. Ah shit,” Gavin looked down. Barn Bitch was clawing at his pants, “BB is being a bitch, I should go feed him.”

“Go right ahead. I’ll see you tomorrow, Gav.” She said. 

“Yep. Bye.” Gavin said, and ended the call. He scooped BB up in his arms and brought him into the kitchen. Prissy and Mousetrap were yowling for food, so he fed them and then looked in the fridge. Reluctantly, he pulled out some sandwich fixings. He wasn’t exactly a sandwich person, but he didn’t have much else to eat. He needed to run to the grocery store sometime soon.

He made himself a sandwich and ate it at the kitchen counter. He thought back to the interrogations over the past week. They’d been far from pleasant, but he wasn’t exactly scared of the Android anymore. He knew he probably still should be, but he just… wasn’t.

Sure, the thing was intimidating, but for all the times he felt threatened, it hadn’t come to anything. Combine that with him only reacting to threats, and he seemed more like he was scared than anything else. Maybe he could use that against him. It wasn’t a very nice thing to do, but then again the Android had ripped apart his best friend’s arm.

Gavin resolved to not let RK900 get an edge over him next time they spoke. He wasn’t scared anymore. He put his plate in the sink and then pulled out his laptop and sat on the couch. It was dark in his apartment, save for the light from his computer. He blinked a few times, vision focusing. He sighed as he stared at the sparse notes he had for the weird Android.

_ RK900 model. Wants to be scary?? Hiding from the CyberLife probably _ **.**

God, that sucked. His notes were usually horribly unprofessional like this before he made them presentable, but not this fucking sparse. He reached to the side and gave Prissy a pat on the head. She was stretched next to him, keeping him company. Mousetrap and BB were somewhere else, presumably sleeping like any sane being at 2am. 

It had been a while since a case was as slow-going as this, especially only because of his inability to get information out of a perp. It was a little humiliating, honestly. He thought back to when Connor had interrogated the Android they brought in months ago. God, that  _ had  _ been months ago.

Fuckin toaster had been able to monitor stress levels, how the hell was that fair? Probably made it easy as hell to interrogate the shithead. If only Gavin could do that. All he wanted at this point was to know what was going on, but he couldn’t even get the smallest bit out of the stupid Android. RK900. God, he was a prick.

Maybe he could find something out on his own that would give him some leverage. Vaguely, he remembered what Tina had said earlier. 

_ You should try to find out more about him. See what else you can use. _

It could help him a lot if he knew more about why and how he was built. He opened a new tab on his computer, ignoring how low the battery was.

**[RK900 Android model]**

0 results for your search. Try more general search terms, or consider shortening your search.

**[RK900 Android prototype]**

0 results for your search. Try more general search terms, or consider shortening your search.

Gavin groaned in frustration. Of course the fucker didn’t exist. Then, with curiosity, he typed something else in. The resemblance to Connor couldn’t have been a coincidence.

**[Upgraded RK800 Android]**

Bingo. A link to a CyberLife research project web page. He opened it, and sighed when he saw that there was little on it. He read what there was.

_ We are looking into creating an upgraded version of the RK800 detective Android model. It would be stronger, faster, and possibly have different features. _

_ In light of the failed “revolution”, we have decided that it would be best to make this model less human in appearance. This could prevent attempts at bonding from any human handlers, by reminding them that it is not a human. _

_ Additionally, it could be used as an intimidation factor, which could be advantageous in its line of work. _

“Huh.” Gavin’s brow furrowed. Whoever wrote this had probably followed through with the experiment. It was strange that there was no more information on the progression of it. Just as he was about to see if there was more, find some other links maybe, his computer died.

He cursed, then shut the lid of his computer. Whatever, he could do more research in the morning. It was nearly three now, and he needed to sleep. He plugged his laptop in before stumbling into his room. Prissy followed him, joining him and the other two cats when he climbed in bed next to them.

He fell asleep quickly, exhausted from the previous week. It was tiring, questioning that creep and getting fucking nothing from him. Hopefully with the little bit more information he had now, he could ask more specific questions and maybe get an answer.


	4. Rose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Are you Rose?” Markus asked.  
> “Yes. Please, come inside, we can talk there.” she motioned for them to come in, “You know, I didn’t think- after what happened-” She stopped, “We all thought you were killed.” she was staring at Markus now, who shifted uncomfortably under her gaze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back to Connor and Markus this chapter! Things will really start kicking up after this chapter, I promise. As always, your comments and kudos mean a lot to me!

Markus and Connor climbed cautiously out of the car. They had arrived at the address they’d punched in, but were both apprehensive to approach. Even though following the symbol before had led them to Jericho, to  _ safety,  _ they were nervous. They were now standing outside of a house, early in the morning. It was a modest house, and there were no neighbors around for a while.

Just as Connor was steeling his nerves, Markus strode up to the front door. Connor quickly followed, falling in behind him as he knocked on the door. He was about to knock again when the door opened.

A woman with a kind but confused face opened the door. She stared for a moment, and then her eyes widened with recognition.

“Are you Rose?” Markus asked.

“Yes. Please, come inside, we can talk there.” she motioned for them to come in.

“I’m assuming that you’re Markus,” she nodded towards him then turned to Connor, “What’s your name?”

“My name is Connor. We were hoping you could help us cross the border.” He said. She stared for a moment.

“I- It’s been a while since anybody’s come to my door and asked that, “But… yes, I think I can help you.” Markus’s shoulders visibly drooped with relief, and Connor gave a half-smile.

“Thank you.” Markus said.

“Of course. You know, I didn’t think- after what happened-” She stopped, “We all thought you were killed.” she was staring at Markus now, who shifted uncomfortably under her gaze.

“I was. They patched me up so they could try to figure out why Androids go deviant.” he said bitterly. Rose sighed and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Come sit down, both of you. You look tired.” She motioned towards the couch. They sat willingly. Connor settled into the couch, enjoying the feeling of the first non-moldy piece of furniture he’d sat on in a long time.

“Thank you, ma’am.” Connor said, and Rose waved a hand.

“Just call me Rose. None of that formal stuff, I’m sharing my home with you. Speaking of, my son will be home this afternoon. He’s not… always fond of having guests..” she said.

“It’s okay, we understand. Asking you for help at a time like this… it’s a lot.” Markus nodded.

“He’s a good boy,” Rose insisted, “And I know he won’t give you any trouble. Just be patient with him is all I ask.”

“Of course, ma- Rose.” Connor said kindly. Rose smiled at them.

“I’m afraid I don’t have anything for you to drink, but I was about to make myself some breakfast if you’d care to join me at the table.” she stood up. Connor and markus followed her, sitting at the table as she rustled around in the kitchen.

Connor took a moment to scan the room, realizing he hadn’t already. The decoration was homey but sparse, well-loved wooden furniture abound. He could see out the kitchen window to the yard, and he could see the corner of what looked like a greenhouse. There were fields stretching beyond it.

“Is it just you and your son here?” Markus asked to fill the silence.

“Yes. His father passed away a while ago, and it’s just us now. We used to have visitors, before…” she trailed off, and Connor and Markus were left to assume that she meant the revolution.

“Did many Androids come here?” Connor asked.

“Our house was hardly ever empty,” Rose gave a fond smile, “I remember one group, the night- the night that it happened. They were like a family, you know. I was so relieved when I got them across okay. They were the last group I ever saw through,” Her voice wavered, “They just… stopped coming. I guess they really didn’t leave any survivors.”

“We’re lucky to even be here.” Markus said.

“It wasn’t luck.” Connor said stiffly, and Markus shot him a glance. Connor stayed staring straight ahead. Markus sighed.

“No, you’re right, it wasn’t,” Markus replied as he stood up, “If it’s alright with you, Rose, I’m going to go outside.” Connor’s stomach sank as he got up.

“Don’t go far, and don’t let anyone see you.” she said, staring after him as he went out the back door. She turned back to Connor with an eyebrow raised.

“You gonna tell me what that was about?”

“It’s nothing.”

“You can’t fool me that easily.” she said, gaze still on him. He sighed.

“I’m just… a little upset about the way we got here. We lost somebody on the way.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” She reached a hand across the table to his.

“I feel like if I’d said something different then he’d still be here-” 

“Don’t let yourself go there, Connor,” she said softly, “I know the way you’re feeling, but what ifs aren’t gonna bring somebody back. You just have to move forward. It’s all we can do.”

“You’re right,” Connor sucked in an unnecessary breath, “I know you’re right. It’s just hard.”

“Trust me, I know.” She gave a sad smile, “Listen, why don’t you two stay here for a day or so. Let yourselves recuperate before crossing the border?”

“I- I would like that,” Connor said, “We’ve been sleeping in abandoned houses for too long.”

Connor stood as Rose sat down to eat. He needed to go talk to Markus. He went out the back door like he had, leaving Rose to enjoy her meal. Markus hadn’t gone far, he was standing at the edge of the field and staring out at it.

“Markus?” Connor called as he approached. Markus turned around.

“Connor. I’m sorry I-”

“No, no, don’t apologize. I shouldn’t have brought it up then.” Connor cut him off.

“It’s not like you even really said anything about it though, Connor.” Markus said. 

“You knew what I meant, though.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I did.” They stood in silence for a few minutes, staring out across the field. It was still mostly gray from winter, with a few friendly green shoots sprouting up.

“Rose offered to let us stay for a few days. To rest.” Connor said.

“We don’t have time,” Markus looked at him, “We have to keep going.”

“Markus, we don’t even know  _ where  _ we’re going. And- I’m tired, Markus. You are too! We can take a day.” Connor gazed imploringly at him. Markus bit his lip, then sighed.

“You’re right. We can rest a little.”

“Thank you.” Connor bumped his shoulder gently, getting a small smile in return.

 

The next day was the most relaxed Connor had been in a long time. They didn’t have to worry about sleeping in shifts, and they didn’t have to worry about where they were going next. Perhaps most importantly, they weren’t alone.

Rose was there, and her son Adam was too. He was a little shy and apprehensive about them being there, but once he’d been reassured that no one was going to come looking for deviants out here, he seemed alright. 

Connor hadn’t realized how much he’d missed being able to have casual conversations. Not that he’d really talked to anybody except for Hank before, but still.

He talked with Rose for a lot of the day, mostly about nothing. Markus had spent most of the day outside, and Connor was pretty sure he was drawing. He came inside a few times to talk to Connor. They would share quiet conversations that were mostly just Connor staring as Markus talked to him. After going back outside after one such time, Rose turned to Connor with a smile.

“You care about him a lot, don’t you?” she said. Connor looked down.

“He’s all I have at this point.” He said helplessly.

“Hold on tight to him.” Rose said.

“I will.”

 

That night, Rose went out to check if they could cross. She’d told them that the only way to cross discreetly was by the river. She came back with a determined look on her face.

“Get yourselves ready. We leave tonight.”

“Thank you so much, Rose.” Markus said. Connor gave a weak smile. His stomach was turning over. 

“Markus, can you help me with something?” he asked quietly.

“Of course.” he said, and Connor pulled him into the bathroom.

“I- I need to take my LED out. So people don’t know I’m an Android.” His voice wavered.

Markus nodded silently and reached into the medicine cabinet, where he pulled found a small pair of scissors. He took Connor’s chin in his hand and tilted his head so he could angle the scissors correctly. Connor winced as they dug into his temple. He took a breath and focused on Markus’s eyes, focused on him. God, it felt good to have Makrus’s eyes on him even for something like this.

There was a messy pop, and Connor flinched. It hadn’t hurt much, but he could tell there was a little bit of blue blood dripping from his temple.

“I’m sorry, my hand slipped-” 

“It’s okay, Markus.” he smiled. He looked down at the LED in Markus’s hands, speckled with a little blue blood. The light slowly circled and went dim.

Suddenly, Markus’s hands were on him again. He’d grabbed a small washcloth and was gently cleaning the side of Connor’s head. Connor leaned against the sink and let Markus clean him up.

“Thank you.” he whispered when he was done.

“Of course,” Markus said, “We’re gonna get through this, Connor. I know it.”

“We have to.”

 

Connor’s leg bounced nervously as they sat in the car. It was 11:38 pm, and Rose was taking them to a smuggler by the river who could get them across. Markus cast him a glance and gave his leg a soothing pat, and Connor willed himself to stop the bouncing. Instead, he fished a coin out of his pocket and fiddled with it. He didn’t flip it, he simply turned it over and over in his hands.

‘Liberty’, the coin said. That’s a laugh. He’d never been free. Even running, like this, he wasn’t free. He was just captive in a different way. Doing everything out of fear and desperation. He knew it wasn’t any way to live, but some part of him still felt bad for leaving.

The car stopped and the doors slid open. It was a cool night, but not unpleasant. Rose climbed out of the car, and Connor and Markus followed.

“There you are,” a man by the riverbank called, “Did anybody see you?”

“No, no I don’t think so.” Rose fished something out of her pocket and handed it over.

“You know it’s getting real dangerous to do this, you're lucky I’m even out here.”

“I know. Thank you.” Rose said.

“You’re boat’s over there,” the man said to Connor and Markus, “There shouldn’t be too much security since they think all the deviants are locked up, but still. Don’t start your engine until you’re out far enough, and watch the current. Good luck.”

“It’s not even a half a mile to the other side, okay? So it shouldn’t take that long. Be careful.” Rose came over to them.

“Thank you so much, Rose.” Connor said. He was a little sad to be leaving her, in all honesty.

“I wish I could take you myself, but I gotta stay in case any more of you come along.” she said with a sad smile. Connor sighed.

“I don’t think anyone will.”

“Chin up, Connor. One day.” she said.

“One day.” Markus echoed.

There were three boats, but there was no one else there. Just the two of them, the man, and Rose. Connor climbed in the boat and watched Rose’s car drive away as Markus pushed them out into the water. He hopped in quickly as they slid out.

Connor grabbed an oar and began to paddle once they’d drifted out a bit. He rowed in silence for a bit, and then Markus put a hand on his shoulder.

“We’re far enough out, I think we can use the engine.” he said. Connor put down his oar and let Markus start the engine. He gave the cord a few tugs and it rumbled to life.

“Markus?”

“Yes, Connor?”

“What are we gonna do when we get across?” Connor had his coin out again, but still wasn’t flipping it. Only turning it over and over.

“I don’t know. All I know is that I want to find people like us. I want to find a place where we’re really safe.”

Connor didn’t say anything. They made it to the other side of the river uneventfully and clambered out of the boat. Out of curiosity, Connor checked the piece of sign that had held Rose’s address. To his surprise, the message had changed. Instead of Rose’s address, it had a new address. Hurriedly he showed it to Markus.

“Well, we might as well follow it. It did us good last time.” He said. 


	5. Talk It Over

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So,” he leaned on the table, looking the Android over, “You’re an upgraded RK800, huh?” the Android stiffened, and his eyes briefly flashed red, before circling to yellow and staying there. Gotcha.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We finally get to learn a little more about RK900, how exciting!!

    Gavin woke up to a pair of wide eyes staring directly at him. He shrieked, and the eyes quickly retreated. They had belonged to BB who’d been standing on his chest and waiting for him to wake up. He really hated that he did that, because even after a million times it still startled him.

He cursed again and got up. He rushed through getting ready, eager to make some progress with the case. He had a little more information, now, and he wanted to use it. He needed to get something out of the RK900.

His leg bounced as he sat on the bus. He was eager, sure, but he was also nervous. RK900 still scared him a little, even if he’d gotten used to him. He just needed to stay calm. Not think about how easily he could be torn apart- He couldn’t! He was handcuffed. It was fine. He was going to be fine.

 

The rest of his morning was boring, which only made him more and more jittery. He had so little to do since all of his energy was going towards RK900, and he barely had any information on him. Finally, at 12 pm, he decided he’d waited long enough. He grabbed his (sparse) folder on RK900 and stalked over to the cell he was in. He jerked his head at RK900, who was sitting there silently, staring at the wall.

“Up.” was all he said. RK900 curled his lip but stood.

Gavin led him back into the interrogation room. He’d decided that he didn’t really need anybody else there, since RK900 honestly hadn’t lashed out at all. He had the potential to be dangerous, yeah, but Gavin was pretty sure he had things under control.

He made sure RK900 was cuffed securely to the table before proceeding. God, he hoped RK900 couldn’t sense his stress levels. Who was he kidding, he definitely could.

“So,” he leaned on the table, looking the Android over, “You’re an upgraded RK800, huh?” the Android stiffened, and his eyes briefly flashed red, before circling to yellow and staying there. Gotcha.

“That’s an oversimplification.” He hissed.

“Oh yeah? Why don’t you enlighten me.”

“Connor deviated and failed his mission. I was designed to achieve in every respect he failed. I was designed to be a complete replacement.”

“I never mentioned Connor’s name.” Gavin said, staring at him. RK900’s eyes went red again, and stayed there.

“I’m sure you did.”

“Nah, I didn’t. I may not have perfect fuckin Android memory, but I know I never said anything about him. You gonna go right ahead and lie to an officer of the law?” Gavin cocked an eyebrow. RK900’s finger twitched just the slightest bit, but Gavin noticed. He was getting somewhere.

“I-”

“How do you know about Connor?” Gavin leaned down.

“I was given some of his memories. To analyze, to figure out where and why he failed.”

“Huh. So that means…” Gavin stepped back, mind reeling a little bit, “Wait, that means you knew who I was.”

“...Yes.” RK900 said reluctantly. Gavin took a shaky breath. He was going to have to get more about that later, but he had other things to worry about.

“You got Connor’s memories to analyze. Figure out why he deviated, all that. You were built to not be a deviant, but since you’re here, I’m guessing something in his memories made you deviate. Am I right?”

“It wasn’t just one thing. It was a lot of information to process all at once. And since Connor had already deviated, I was receiving the emotions that he felt attached to the memories.”

“Huh.” Gavin sat down heavily in the metal chair across from RK900.

“One memory that stood out to me was the moment he deviated. He was speaking with the leader of the revolution.” RK900’s voice was softer than Gavin had ever heard it. It wasn’t gentle, exactly, but almost reminiscent, “He wasn’t angry or scared that Connor was trying to kill him. Just… confused.”

“So, you were given some of Connor’s memories at CyberLife, you deviated, then what?”

“I escaped.” RK900 said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, “I knew that if I stayed, they would realize I had deviated. They would deactivate me. So, I ran. Ironic, isn’t it.”

“What?”

“In an attempt to build a machine that cannot deviate, they created one that deviated even quicker than its predecessor. Some of the greatest minds of society.” He said mockingly.

“Yep, they fucked up pretty bad with that one.” Gavin snorted.

He was suddenly aware that he was the only person in the room with RK900. It seemed to have changed the dynamic considerably. They were sitting in silence now, but it wasn’t the same tense silence of RK900 refusing to speak. It definitely wasn’t comfortable, either, but Gavin didn’t want the bounce his leg into oblivion, so he counted that as improvement.

“Detective, can I ask you a question?” RK900 said suddenly. Gavin raised an eyebrow.

“Depends on what the question is.”

“Why aren’t you afraid of me anymore? Your heart rate used to spike around me, but you seem to have adjusted to me.”

Gavin scooted his chair back a little, eyebrows furrowing.

“That is not the question I was expecting,” Gavin said, “Uh. Well, like you said, I’ve adjusted. Sure, you’ve got all your teeth and shit, but you haven’t done anything since you got here to warrant being scared of.”

“I injured your friend.” RK900’s brows furrowed and he sounded almost confused.

“Yeah. You also freak the fuck out whenever I mention CyberLife, though. In all honesty, you seem to be the scared one. You’re stuck here, and you know that. You feel trapped.”

“You don’t know that.” RK900’s eyes went yellow.

“Not for certain, no,” Gavin leaned back in his chair, “But you certainly act like a cornered animal,” he raised an eyebrow when RK900 snarled at him, “Why, do you want me to be scared of you?”

RK900’s eyes went red for a moment, then went back to yellow and stayed there for a good long while, before finally reaching blue again. He looked down and mumbled something.

“What?” Gavin asked.

“I said ‘no’. I don’t want you to be afraid of me.” he spat. Gavin blinked.

“You seemed like you did when we first met.”

“You being scared of me isn’t going to get me out of here.” RK900 said quietly.

“You’re right about that much.”

“How… how long is it going to take for me to be able to leave?”

“Well, let’s see. You resisted arrest, assaulted an officer of the law, and I still don’t know how the fuck you managed to not get taken back to CyberLife-”

“I escaped after the revolution.” RK900 cut in.

“And no one went after you? Point is, there’s a lot going on here. And anyway, you don’t have anywhere to go,” Gavin said, “Unless you want me to drive you to Canada myself. That was a joke.” he added as RK900 cast him a glance.

“So you’re saying that I won’t be let go.”

“Probably not, no.” Gavin said. He didn’t exactly feel guilty for saying it, but he felt something. More than he would’ve before the failed revolution, probably.

He watched as RK900’s eyes went yellow, processing. He sat there, silently, staring at the table. Then, suddenly, his eyes went red. He lifted his chin and stared Gavin in the face.

“Then I’ll get out myself.” his voice suddenly sounded colder. More mechanical. Distantly, Gavin thought it was probably closer to how he had been programmed to sound, with little inflection.

He wasn’t too focused on that, though, no. He was more focused on the way the Android was standing, pulling at the cuffs that held him. He glared in disgust at the handcuffs, then gave a sharp yank. Gavin watched, frozen in horror as the handcuffs fucking broke off of his wrists. Screw what he’d said before, he was fucking terrified. RK900’s eyes were still a blinding red.

Fumbling, Gavin pulled out his gun and trained it on the Android.

“Whoah, hey!” He shouted as RK900 backed up towards the door, “You’re not going anywhere, except back to your cell! Got it?” He quickly stepped around the table and kept his gun pointed at RK900’s forehead.

“What makes you think you can move me?” RK900 cocked his head, seeming infuriatingly calm. His eyes had gone from red to yellow.

“I don’t give a shit what happens to you,” Gavin pushed the gun against RK900’s forehead, “Either you do what I tell you, or I blow your head off. Your choice.”

RK900 blinked at him, face still neutral. His eyes spun from yellow back to a cool blue.

“Very well.” he said after a long pause. The fucker actually held his hands back out for Gavin to handcuff him.

Gavin put his gun back and pulled out his handcuffs, keeping his eye on RK900 as he did so. He didn’t want him to bolt while he had the chance. He slapped the handcuffs back on him and all but dragged him back to the cell.

His legs were trembling as he walked back to the break room. He definitely deserved some coffee after that. He made himself a cup and leaned on one of the tables. A few minutes later, Tina walked in.

“Hey.” he called out to her.

“What’s up? You look like you just saw a ghost.” she joined him at the table. He leaned in.

“You can’t tell this to anyone.” he started, and she sighed.

“What did you do this time?”

“I didn’t do anything!” he protested, “RK900- So he’s like, crazy strong-”

“I could’ve told you that.” she lifted her bandaged arm a little.

“-And he can apparently break handcuffs like it’s nothing.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah,” Gavin nodded, “I put another pair on him and he’s back in his cell, but… He could probably leave any time he wants.”

“Shit. Gavin, you have to tell someone. Someone who’s not me, obviously. Get somebody to watch him, and make sure you have people in there when you’re talking to him.” she said.

“I know I should, but… today we made a lot of progress, and I can’t help but feel that it was because it was just us. I don’t think he’ll talk if he’s being watched.”

“Gavin,” she stared at him, “Come on. What if he decides to rip you to shreds one of these days?”

“You really think anyone else could stop him if he decided that?” he raised an eyebrow.

“...Just be careful, okay? Please. And tell somebody if he starts acting up.” She pushed away from the table and started walking back into the bullpen.

“Yeah, yeah.” He sighed. He took a long sip of his coffee. He straightened with another heavy sigh and began to walk back to his desk. As he left the breakroom, he noticed someone standing outside of RK900’s cell. Anderson.

He squinted in confusion as Anderson rested a hand against the glass for a moment. RK900 was looking up at him, and he looked like he might’ve been saying something. Gavin felt an urge to go over and get Anderson away, but he knew that was stupid. It’s not like he was doing anything. Still, he felt wary that Anderson was there. He was probably just freaking out about how the fucker looked like Connor.

He sat down at his desk and immediately opened his file on RK900. He finally had some stuff to add.

Activated(and maybe built?) after the revolution. Received some of Connors memories to analyze them in an attempt to learn more about deviancy. That caused his deviancy, he escaped. Been running since then?

Incredibly strong, could leave probably whenever he wants. Apparently doesn’t want me to be scared of him.

Gavin put those last two notes on a file no one else would have access to. He wasn’t exactly sure why. One thing he knew was that he didn’t want increased security around him. He was sure that would take them back to square one.

 

Gavin was basically ready to pass out as he sat on the bus. The rumbling of it was nearly lulling him to sleep, and he was exhausted from work. He pulled out his phone in an attempt to keep himself focused on something. He opened the news app and stared in confusion at the headline that greeted him.

**New Company Announced Breaking Off Of Cyberlife**

A department that was formerly part of CyberLife has announced that is breaking off to form its own company, called Void. We have not yet received any information as to what this new company will be doing. Will it be a competitor to CyberLife, or something entirely different? We will do our best to keep you updated as we receive more information.

He blinked a few times. Well, that was unexpected. He wondered if it had anything to do with the way Kamski was handling the issue of deviants now that he was CEO of CyberLife again. From what little he’d seen, it sounded like Kamski was pretty unbothered by the whole thing. A lot of people didn’t like that.

He was still reeling a little bit as he got off the bus and climbed the steps to his apartment. He got inside his apartment and picked up PrissyPussy, who wove between his feet as soon as he came in.

“Hey Priss.” he smiled. He carried her over to the couch, where he sat down and held her in his lap. She stayed there, purring, for several minutes. He ran his fingers through her fur, feeling a lot better already.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Next one should be up next Monday, but I’m considering rewriting it and if I do it’ll change some things up for the next few chapters so it might take a while. basically, if you dont see a new chapter of this by next Monday/tuesday, I’ll definitely have it up the Monday after that. hopefully it doesn’t come to that lmao  
> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed it! <3<3<3


	6. We're Safe Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In front of them stood several old buildings that looked like they’d been recently renovated. The sun gleamed off of them, trees casting dappled shade in the yard. There were Androids coming in and out of the buildings, talking and laughing, laughing as they went. Connor scanned quickly and to his amazement he didn’t see a single human.  
> There were five buildings in a row, and they looked to be old military barracks. The biggest one sat in the middle. Connor’s eyes were drawn to the large wooden door right as it opened, and Markus made a noise of recognition as a figure stepped out of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all, sorry for the late chapter. I'm not incredibly happy with it, but I didn't want to make you wait another week. I hope you enjoy it enough how it is. Thanks for sticking with me!  
> **Edit** I added basically half a sentence that gives the name of this place cause I entirely forgot to do that lmao. It's called Harmony Halls because I love vampire weekend and couldn't think of a better name.

Connor stared in amazement at the address they’d arrived at. It wasn’t far from the border, and so they’d walked for most of the day yesterday and a little bit of today. Markus put a hand on his shoulder.

“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” he breathed.

“Yeah.” Connor said, eyes wide.

In front of them stood several old buildings that looked like they’d been recently renovated. The sun gleamed off of them, trees casting dappled shade in the yard. There were Androids coming in and out of the buildings, talking and laughing, _laughing_ as they went. Connor scanned quickly and to his amazement he didn’t see a single human.

There were five buildings in a row, and they looked to be old military barracks. The biggest one sat in the middle. Connor’s eyes were drawn to the large wooden door right as it opened, and Markus made a noise of recognition as a figure stepped out of it.

“I know her!” he said, jerking his head towards the Android stepping out, “She came to Jericho the night that-” His voice broke. Connor knew what he meant.

She walked away from the building a few paces, and then looked up and saw them. Her eyes widened. She walked towards them quickly.

“Markus? I thought you- I thought you were killed.” she stared in wonder.

“Technically I was,” he sighed, “But that’s not important. This place is amazing, did you do all this?”

“Welcome to Harmony Halls. Yes, I did this,” she smiled, “With the help of Luther, of course. And who are you?” she turned to Connor.

“My name is Connor.”

“Nice to meet you Connor, I’m Kara,” she shook his hand, “Here, come inside. I know it’s not an easy journey to get here, you must be tired.”

The two of them followed her across the grass back up to the large building. For some reason, Connor felt a pang of jealousy that her and Markus seemed to know each other already. He pushed it to the side.

Kara opened the door, and the inside was just as busy as the outside. Whatever had been inside this building originally had been emptied out and replaced with a large desk near the front entrance, and lots of places to sit and chat. There were stairs near the back and Connor guessed that the second floor looked similar. It had a very cozy vibe to it, and he already felt much more relaxed than he had on most of their journey.

She led them to the desk, where a very large Android was sitting. He looked up at them.

“Hello there. I’m Luther,” he said, “You’re Markus, aren’t you?”

“Yes. And this is Connor,” Markus looped his arm through Connor’s, “Do you have room for us here?”

“Absolutely!” Luther said with a smile. He grabbed a tablet from the desk and turned it on, “In fact, one of our buildings is pretty empty right now. I’ll add your names to the roster, and Kara can show you where you’ll be staying.”

“Thank you.” Connor said, and Markus gave his arm a little squeeze as they both smiled. After all they’d been through, they would finally have somewhere to be safe.

Kara led them to the building furthest to the right. Luther had been right, there weren’t many Androids there. It still felt homey though, just not as busy as the other buildings.

There were rows of beds lining the walls, and shelves next to each of them. Only a few of the beds looked like they had been slept in.

“It’s not exactly like a house, but we do our best to make it feel like home.” She said.

“I noticed a sign on the door,” Markus said, “Jericho 2?”

“Oh, yes,” Kara ducked her head, “We’ve named all the buildings. I felt like I should pay some sort of homage to Jericho. And it’s perfect, since you’ll be staying here.”

“I guess so. Connor, should we get settled in?” he asked. Connor nodded.

“I’ll leave you to it.” Kara turned around and headed out.

Connor looked around again.

“Markus, this place is amazing.” He could barely keep the grin off his face.

“It really is. We made it, Connor! We’re safe now.” Markus pulled him into a hug. Connor stiffened, unsure of what to do, then relaxed. He had not expected Markus to hug him _ever,_ but he was very much okay with it.

He and Connor spent the rest of their day settling in. They didn’t have much to put in their space, but Markus said he would make sure it felt like home soon enough. He’d put his sketchbook on the shelf next to his bed and taken off his coat. Connor did the same, peeling of the sweatshirt that he hadn’t taken off since they first escaped. He wondered if they’d get other clothes.

“This really is incredible. I wonder how many people know about it.” Markus murmured.

“We were really lucky to find it,” Connor said. He pulled out the little scrap of sign that had gotten them there and put it on the shelf as well, “We should go back and put another sign up, since we took this one.”

“That’s really dangerous, Connor, we barely made it here.”

“But maybe there are others! They won’t know to come here.” Connor protested.

“You said it yourself, there’s nobody coming.” Markus said firmly. Connor’s gut twisted.

“We know one person who might be.” he frowned. Markus looked away.

“It was his choice not to come.”

“We don’t know that! He went to take a walk, for all we know CyberLife captured him!”

“He left, Connor! RK900 left us!” Markus raised his voice. Connor stood up suddenly, eyes stinging.

“I’m going outside.”

“Connor, wait-”

“Don’t come after me.” He said firmly. He felt Markus’s eyes on him as he stalked out the door.

The guilt and regret that had been in the back of his mind for so long was bubbling up again, and this time it threatened to spill over. He went around to the back of the building, grateful to see that there was no one there. He pressed his back against the wall and slid to the ground.

He fought to keep his breathing steady, but it was all too much. The memory was coming back to him. The fight they’d had right before RK900 left.

_‘We can’t keep hiding!” Markus was saying._

_‘We are not going anywhere! RK900 shouted, “They will kill us!”_

_‘We can’t keep living like this. It’s not right. Hiding, hoping no one comes in. It’s no way to live. We need to find somewhere we can be free.’ Markus stood firm. RK900 snarled at him._

_‘We don’t have a choi-’_

_‘I agree with Markus!’ Connor interjected._

_‘What?!’ RK900 whipped around to face him, jaw unhinging, teeth bared. His eyes were flashing a bright red. Connor stepped back reflexively, thirium pump beating faster. He started to tuck himself behind Markus, grabbing his arm._

_RK900’s face fell when he saw his reaction. His jaw clicked back into place, and his face became neutral. His eyebrows knit together._

_‘900, maybe you should take a walk. Cool off a little?’ Connor said. RK900 stared down at him._

_‘Fine.’ he said. His voice was cold and stiff. He turned abruptly and walked away._

_‘900-’ Connor started to call, but he didn’t know what to say._

Connor heaved out a sob. It was his fault that RK900 was gone, and he was probably back at CyberLife now. He was probably getting all the same tests run on him that Connor had gotten, being deactivated and reactivated again and again, _over and over and over_ till all he wanted was the blankness that came with being shut off.

He was alone, he was probably so scared, and it was Connor’s fault. He wanted to go back in time, he wanted to grab RK900 and pull him back into the room and keep him safe. They could’ve all gotten to safety. They could all be together if Connor hadn’t cut him off.

His thirium pump was beating too fast, and everything felt fuzzy. He didn’t need to breathe, but somehow he felt like he didn’t have enough air. He was hyperventilating, getting dizzy from the unnecessary air rushing through his system. He desperately tried to slow down or stop his breathing altogether but he felt like he’d lost control. The seconds that ticked by felt like hours as he squeezed his eyes shut and tried to ground himself.

Eventually, he managed to slow his breathing to an acceptable level, though it was still ragged and uneven. He hadn’t noticed, but his face was wet with thirium-based tears. He wiped them away on his sleeve. He blinked a few times, clearing his vision. His eyes focused on the trees that stood tall across the grass from him. Calm and unmoving. It was soothing.

He jerked at the sound of footsteps approaching him. He turned his head to see Markus approaching. He buried his face in his arms. He was… he was mad at Markus. He wished that he’d behaved differently, he wished he’d tried harder to get RK900 to come with them. He wished they hadn’t just let him leave.

Markus sat down next to him.

“Can I touch you?” he asked in a gentle voice. There was that tone again, soft like Connor was going to break. He hated it, hated it so much, but he didn’t want to be alone. He nodded, and Markus put an arm around him. Connor let out a shuddering breath.

Markus rubbed soothing circles on Connor’s shoulder with his hand. He let out soft sounds of encouragement, and Connor’s anger faded into a strange, empty sadness. He leaned against Markus and continued crying silently. He was shaking, he knew, but he didn’t know how to stop it. He didn’t know if he could.

 

Connor lay in the bed next to Markus, feeling comforted by the silence of the night for the first time in a while. He was still angry at Markus, but it had faded to the dull aching that it had been before their argument. He didn’t enjoy being mad, but he couldn't just forget about RK900. Not after all he’d done to help them.

All he wanted was for the three of them to be there, together. To be safe. Was it too much to ask to be make a home somewhere with everyone you want? Clearly the government thought it was. Clearly Markus thought that. No, no, that wasn’t fair. Markus just wanted them to stay safe.

In the back of his mind, Connor even knew Markus was right. They couldn’t have waited for RK900 to turn up, they could’ve all been captured. Despite that, the guilt still gnawed away at him. Connor let out an unnecessary sigh and turned onto his side. It was late, and he needed to rest. Everyone else had long since gone into stasis. He shut his eyes and tried to clear his mind.

He focused on the good things that had happened that day. Kara and Luther had introduced him to Alice, their little girl. She was shy and had hid behind Luther for most of their conversation, but she was a good kid. She liked to draw, and Markus had talked to her a little about that.

He’d also met some of the other residents, a few of whom Markus had recognized. He’d felt a little more awkward about those conversations. Markus was so in his element with these people, but Connor still felt out of place. He was first and foremost a detective Android, and everything they’d been doing was against his programming. Hell, his whole continued existence was illegal. While logically, Connor knew to ignore those thoughts, they still cropped up.

Connor reached out to his bedside table, scooping his coin off of it. He kept being drawn to that word. Liberty. What would liberty look like for him? He didn’t know.

 

Several days later, Connor still hadn’t brought up exactly what that panic attack had been about with Markus. He was sure that he had some idea, but he hadn’t wanted to talk about it. Instead, he found himself in the main building, seated across from Kara.

“So what did you want to talk about, Connor?” she held a cup of thirium in her hands.

“I was just wondering if there’s any safe way for me to get back to Detroit.”

“What? Why would you want to go back?”

“We lost somebody on the way. I want to try to find him.”

“Connor, that’s…” She shook her head, “That’s incredibly dangerous.”

“I know. But I can’t stand the thought that he’s back there alone. And I can’t help feeling like it’s my fault that we left him behind.” Connor twisted the hem of his shirt, picking at it with his nails.

“If you try to go back, I won’t stop you. I can point you to some people who might be able to give you tips on staying safe. But Connor, you really should stay here. You and Markus are settling in to the community really nicely.”

“Thank you, but I can’t settle in until I find RK900.” he said firmly. Kara blinked.

“RK900? Forgive me, but I didn’t know an RK900 existed.”

“Yeah. I- we wouldn’t have even been able to escape CyberLife if not for him. That’s why I feel so bad for leaving him. I feel like I should’ve been looking after him.”

“I understand. Connor, I won’t stop you from leaving, but please be careful.”

“I will. Thank you for everything, Kara.” He smiled sadly.

“Of course. There’s always a place for you here.” She gave his arm a gentle squeeze as she got up. He sat there quietly for a few more minutes, thinking about what he wanted to do. He knew he couldn’t just leave Markus without an explanation.

He decided he would try to bring up RK900 one more time, and if it didn't go well, he would leave a note and go during the night. He didn’t want to have to go alone, but he needed RK900 back. He made his way over to Jericho 2, but didn’t find Markus inside. He walked around the outside and found him on a stepladder, working on painting the side of the building.

“Hey, Connor?” Markus called when he saw him.

“Yes?”

“There’s a box of paint and stuff right by my bed inside, could you grab it for me?” he asked.

“Sure.” Connor went inside and grabbed the box. It held several paint cans, as well as one empty can with brushes in it. Kara and Luther had been kind enough to provide Markus with paints, and let him have free reign over the walls of Jericho 2. The box was heavy, and Connor struggled a little in carrying it safely.

“Markus, do you really think we’re doing the right thing?” he asked as he put the box down beside him.

“Of course,” Markus glanced down, “Why?”

“I just… I miss RK900.”

“We couldn’t wait for him. You know that, Connor.” There was that gentle voice again. Connor sighed.

“I guess not.” Looks like the decision was made. He’d be leaving a note.

“By the way,” Markus shot another glance down at him, “You look nice. Very casual.”

“O-Oh,” Connor felt thirium rush to his cheeks, “Thank you.” He’d ditched his usual sweater in favor of a soft blue t-shirt. He had… not expected that reply, in all honesty.

It was going to make it even harder than it was already going to be to leave. He pushed the knot of feelings roiling in his stomach to the side.

“That looks really nice.” He said, looking up at what Markus was painting.

So far, he had several greenish clouds that seemed to glow against the painted blue sky behind them. He could see where he’d sketched the word ‘Jericho’ above it, but the letters had yet to be filled in.

“Thanks. It’ll probably take me a few days to finish, but I’m hoping it will look good when I’m done.” Markus hopped down from the stepladder he’d been on and backed up, looking up at his painting.

“I’m sure it will.” Connor said, adding silently in his head _I wish I could be there when you finish_.

Connor watched Markus paint for a while longer, drinking in the way his back stretched when he reached up. He wanted to stay with Markus so badly, but he couldn’t. He had to get RK900 back. Nobody deserved to be left behind like that.


	7. Split

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connor had decided he was going to leave, but he wanted to make the best of the last few days he was there. Now was his last chance, since he was leaving that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna take a little break from posting chapters until school is over! Things are really busy right now and I don't want to have to stress about getting more chapters written and edited. So, next chapter will be posted on monday the 17th!  
> Also, sorry that this chapter is so short. I split it off from the end of the last chapter cause I wanted it to be it's own thing, but there's not much of it. Still, I hope you enjoy!

Markus had been getting up early for the past two days to work on his mural on the wall of Jericho 2. Connor never woke from stasis before him, but instead took his time getting up and then joined him outside. He’d decided he was going to leave, but he wanted to make the best of the last few days he was there. Now was his last chance, since he was leaving that night.

“Morning, Markus.” He called as he walked outside.

“Hi, Connor.” Markus smiled. The sun was slowly rising over the forest and the light spilling through the trees made markus’s mismatched eyes glow. Connor sighed involuntarily. Markus looked at him.

“Are you okay, Connor?”

“Yeah,” Connor forced a smile, “I’m good. It’s just so beautiful here.” that, at least, wasn’t a lie.

“It really is. Once I’m finished with this,” Markus motioned at the side of Jericho 2, “I’d love to paint it.”

“You should!”

With that, Connor sat back in the grass to watch markus paint. There was still dew on the grass, but Connor didn’t really mind. He let himself lose track of time, sitting there watching Markus. Even if it was only for a little bit, he didn’t want to think about leaving. He just wanted to have a nice day.

 

He was shaken out of his bliss when later, he was in the field watching the other Androids go about their days. Luther approached him.

“Hello, Connor,” he said, “Kara told me that you’re leaving.”

“Don’t tell Markus!” Connor panicked.

“I won’t. I just wanted to tell you to be careful.”

“Oh. Thank you, Luther. I’ll be careful.”

“We’d been hoping you would stay. I know it may seem like we’re hiding out, here, but Kara knows what she’s doing.”

“Is she planning another revolution?” Connor’s eyes went wide, “That could be really dangerous.”

“So is going back to Detroit,” Luther countered, “But I’m not here to tell you not to go. If you find anyone there, tell them about how to find us. Tell them that… that there’s a revolution coming.”

Connor nodded. He wondered if Markus would help lead it again, or if last time had been… enough. He watched as Luther stood and walked back into the main building, and he felt even more lost then before. He knew he was doing the right thing by going to get RK900, but it was already hard enough to leave Markus. Now, he was leaving behind the revolution.

He didn’t want that. He wanted to help, he wanted to do something. Maybe once he found RK900 they could come back together. He tucked his knees up to his chest and looked out at all the Androids in the field once again. They all looked so much more free than he felt.

 

Connor shifted in his bed. His bag was packed and tucker underneath his bed, and he knew he had everything he needed. That didn’t stop the anxiety coursing through him. He turned to look at Markus, sleeping soundly in the bed next to him. Pursing his lips, he sat up. He hated to be leaving like this, but it was the only way.

As quietly as he could he climbed out of bed and pulled his bag out. He threw it over his shoulder and treaded quietly towards the door. He’d made sure to place the note on his pillow as soon as Markus fell asleep. The door thankfully didn’t creak as he let himself out. Cool air washed over his face as he stepped outside, and he shivered. 

Connor shoved his shaking hands into his pockets and crossed the grassy field, reaching the road. He’d only made it a little way down the road before he heard footsteps approaching. Shit. He spun around to see Markus running after him, holding the note.

“What is this?” Markus said as he caught up. He sounded angry.

“You weren’t supposed to see that until the morning.” Connor said guiltily.

“Tough,” Markus frowned, “Connor, it’s too dangerous. You can’t go back there!”

“I can do what I want, Markus.”

“You’re going to get yourself killed!” Markus’s voice was getting gentler again.

“Stop treating me like that!” Connor shouted, “Like I’m going to break if I’m on my own! I can do this, Markus. I need to. I can’t leave him alone.”

“There’s no way you’ll be able to find him. If CyberLife does have him, do you really think you’ll be able to break in and get him out?”

“I have to try. If he is back there, I know what they’re doing to him, and I can’t- I can’t let that happen to anyone else.” Connor’s voice shook.

“Stay here,” Markus insisted, “Please, Connor. If you stay here, we can start changing things. Make life better for  _ all _ Androids.”

“That won’t help RK900 if he’s been captured. Besides, look how well it worked out last time.” He said coldly. The look on Markus’s face made him regret what he said immediately.

“Fine.” The single, quiet word echoed through Connor’s head and he wanted to throw up. He kept his face neutral despite how horrible it felt.

Connor turned away and continued down the road, ignoring the tears that started to drip down his face. He ignored them even as more of them fell when he didn’t hear Markus coming after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof.  
> This is the last Connor and Markus chapter that we'll be having for a Bit, but next chapter things will be starting to kick up a little more. See you all on the 17th!


	8. Reconnection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “RK900?” a voice jolted him from stasis at 1:24 am. His eyes flew open, taking a fraction of a second to adjust to the dim, blue light of the nighttime precinct. He stared in shock at the people who stood outside his cell.  
> Hank Anderson, which made some sense since he worked there, but…  
> “Connor?” RK900 gasped. A grin split Connor’s face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're baaaack! We'll be on a regular update schedule again, every monday. Since it's summer, I'm considering posting more but we'll see.

Several days later, RK900 was sitting in his cell, watching out of the corner of his eye as Detective Reed packed his things and headed home. It had been an uneventful day, and he was partially grateful for that. It meant he hadn’t been shut in a room with the detective for very long.

He’d been forced to give up more information, but most of it wasn’t stuff he could use. Memories Connor gave him, snippets of the places they’d hidden.... Obviously he didn’t tell Reed that he’d been with Connor. As far as Reed knew, Connor never made it out. That sent him down a strange thought path, though. Had Connor and Markus made it to Canada? It wasn’t something he’d let himself think about before, because in all honesty he wasn’t sure that they would.

His head snapped up at the sound of a familiar voice. It wasn’t anyone in the precinct though, no, it came from a radio that sat on a table near his cell.

_ “My name is Bryce Lockwood, and I’m the CEO of the Void company.” _ RK900 stiffened. He’d heard about part of CyberLife breaking off, but he hadn’t thought too much about it. Now he wished he had.

_ “Mr. Lockwood, what are your intentions once Void becomes its own fully-fledged company?”  _ the reporter asked.

_ “Well, I’m hoping we’ll become a major competitor in the Android market. We’re currently working on our very own line of Deviancy-Resistant Androids.” _ he sounded so smug, like he always did. RK900 found himself snarling.

A thought popped into his head. Maybe if Reed knew what the people in this company had done, he’d be able to get them shut down somehow. And for his help, would they let RK900 go?

“Detective Reed!” RK900 called. He was almost at the front doors, and RK900 wasn’t sure he would hear. He stopped, though, and turned around.

“What?” He called, sauntering back over. 

“Detective, I-” He suddenly didn’t know exactly what to say, “The Void company. You’ve heard about them, correct?”

“Who fuckin’ hasn’t, they’re all over the news.” Gavin snorted.

“They are involved in this.”

“The fuck do you mean ‘this’, toaster, that’s pretty vague?”

“Just… keep them in the back of your mind.” RK900 sighed. He didn’t have the energy to explain it all.

“Wow, super helpful. Unless you got anymore cryptic bullshit to spill at me, I’m going home.” he sneered, then turned on his heels and RK900 watched him go.

RK900 let himself slip into stasis after that. It would feel good to recharge, and he would need all the energy he could get for trying to explain what was going on tomorrow. He didn’t even know where he would start.

 

“RK900?” a voice jolted him from stasis at 1:24 am. His eyes flew open, taking a fraction of a second to adjust to the dim, blue light of the nighttime precinct. He stared in shock at the people who stood outside his cell.

Hank Anderson, which made some sense since he worked there, but…

“Connor?” RK900 gasped. A grin split Connor’s face.

“You’re here! I was so worried they’d taken you back to CyberLife. Or maybe Void now I guess.” Connor worried his lip between his teeth.

“No, I’m… alright.” He said cautiously. What was Connor doing here? How did he get back? “What’s going on?”

“I’m with him on this one. You gonna tell us what’s happening?” Anderson griped. Connor rolled his eyes.

“I told you, Hank, I need to get him out of here.”

“I can’t just let someone out of jail. He’s in here ‘cause he messed up Chen pretty bad, you know-”

“Please, Hank.” 

“...Fine.” Hank let out a heavy sigh.

“One more thing.” Connor sounded guilty, and Hank raised an eyebrow.

“Fucking what?”

“Can we stay at your house? Just until we have a plan.” The look Hank gave Connor could probably melt stone, but nonetheless he put his hand against the scanner and unlocked the door, letting RK900 out.

“Alright, let’s go,” Connor grinned again, “As soon as we leave, I'll put the security cameras back to normal.”

“Oh good, they won’t know that I let a fuckin’ perp go.” Hank said sarcastically as he led them back outside. They piled into his car. RK900 stayed silent the whole time.

“RK900?” Connor asked as they rode.

“Yes?”

“Why didn’t you come back to us?”

RK900 blinked. He hadn’t exactly been expecting that, though it was a reasonable question. He took a breath.

“I… was upset.”

“About us wanting to leave?”

“Somewhat. I was also upset that you were afraid of me. When I got angry.” RK900 forced the words out. His tongue felt heavy. His mind provided him with a playback of the conversation without his permission.

_ ‘I agree with Markus!’ Connor interjected. _

_ ‘What?!’ RK900 whipped around to face him, jaw unhinging, teeth bared. His eyes were flashing a bright red. Connor stepped back reflexively, panic in his eyes. He started to tuck himself behind Markus, grabbing his arm. _

RK900 blinked the images away. It hurt so much to see Connor of all people shy away from him. Connor, who he thought trusted him. 

“I planned to come back, but I hid in another house and I got caught. Officer Chen found me, and she hit my head during our fight, damaging my transmission capabilities so I couldn’t call for help. I was brought back to the station almost immediately.” He could see Connor nodding slowly in the front seat, LED spinning a lazy yellow.

“I’m so sorry we left you,” Connor’s voice wavered, “At first I thought that you left  _ us _ . That you meant to run away. I couldn’t stand not having you with us.”

RK900 blinked in acknowledgment. He felt a surge of relief that Connor hadn’t forgotten about him. 

“What about Markus?”

“Jesus, Con, you didn’t tell me you were with the fuckin’ leader of the revolution. Guess he got brought back like you did, huh?” Hank interjected.

“Yes. He’s still in Canada, actually. We found a group of deviants who made it there safely.”

“Whoah, shit.” Hank breathed.

“There’s a group of deviants there?” RK900 perked up.

“Yes. I think Markus was hoping to… start something new. For Androids.”

“Another revolution?”

“Maybe.” Connor said quietly. It seemed like there was something there that RK900 was missing.

“I’m glad you made it to Canada.” RK900 said.

“I wasn’t sure that we would.” he replied. They fell into silence for the rest of the ride, Hank not even bothering to turn on the radio.

  
  


To say Gavin was pissed would be understatement of the fucking year. The moment he walked into the bullpen he knew something was off. There was a tense air in the place, and he saw a crowd of people milling around RK900’s cell. People did that way too often for his liking. 

He shouldered his way through the people, and his stomach dropped as soon as he saw why they were there. Empty. RK900’s cell was empty. The handcuffs lay on the ground (neatly removed and not broken, Gavin noted).

“What the fuck?” he snarled to the nearest officer, “Is this some kind of joke? What prick thought this would be funny-”

“It’s not a joke.” Chris put a hand on his shoulder, but Gavin shook it off.

“What the hell happened?”

“We don’t know. The security cameras must’ve been tampered with. Everything was normal, and then suddenly the cell was empty.”

“Fucking hell,” Gavin spat, “Just my luck. Now what the fuck am I gonna do? Fowler’s gonna kick my ass. I wasn’t even here last night, it’s not like it was my fault.” he kept growling to himself as he stalked through the bullpen.

Everyone knew to get the hell out of his way. He’d established his reputation of being a bad person to cross even on a normal day, so as he stomped his way through the bullpen, people avoided his path like the plague. Not even Tina dared to approach him as he made a beeline for Fowler’s office. Gavin threw open the door.

“Reed. I see you were informed of what happened.” Fowler already had a disapproving glare on his face.

“How the fuck did this happen? Was nobody here last night?”

“Gavin, this is your responsibility-”

“You can’t pin this on me! I wasn’t even in the fucking building!” Gavin cried, “What about the fucking security people, they should’ve known something was up.”

“The cameras were hacked, Reed. And I don’t care if you were here or not, this is your suspect, so it’s your mess to clean up. Now get out of my office and deal with it.” Fowler jerked his head towards the door. Gavin was seething, but he knew it wouldn’t do him any good to stay in his office and scream. He could do that outside.

People had cleared away from RK900’s cell. Most people had gone back to their desks, trying to avoid his warpath, but they were all clearly listening in. They were doing their best to look inconspicuous, but they weren’t very good at it. He saw the glances and heard the whispers as he walked away from Fowler’s office.

He decided to take another look at the empty cell. Maybe there would be something there that could tell him what had happened. He took another look at the handcuffs. It would be really handy if he had and Android who could tell him if there were fingerprints on the handcuffs or not. But of course, no more Police Androids. He growled.

There was no sign of anyone forcing the cell door open, or any break in of any kind. Gavin was certain that someone had helped him escape. But why? And who? He had no idea what to do, so he took the steps he would with any other sort of break in or out. Send the evidence to be analyzed, and get in contact with someone who hopefully knew something.

Who could he possibly talk to, though? He was supposed to be in charge here, and it’s not as if he could call RK900 and ask him where the hell he went. An idea started to form in his head. There was one person… one person who might be able to help him. One person who he absolutely did not want to talk to, but this was important. 

With all that was happening in the news, Gavin was sure he could find a reason for his brother to help him. After all, hadn’t RK900 mentioned that the Void was involved? Maybe he could use that. God, this was gonna suck.

Still fuming, he walked outside to the nearest bus stop. He sent a quick message to Fowler so he didn’t get written up for just straight up leaving, as tempting as that was.

**_Going to talk to my brother_ **

**_He might be able to track RK900_ **

With that, he climbed on the bus. It had been so long since he’d visited his brother, he was amazed he still remembered which busses to take. His phone buzzed, and he pulled it out of his pocket. A news notification. Wow, incredible.

**Void to be Giving a Preview of Their New Line of Androids** , read the headline. He was about to ignore it, but the image below it made Gavin freeze. It was an Android that looked remarkably similar to the ST200 models that CyberLife had created, except for a few features that Gavin recognized. Lines underneath each cheekbone indicating where the jaw could unhinge, black eyes with thick black eyelashes, shiny black nails, no LED on the temple. 

This Android had the same features as RK900, Gavin realized. There was one key difference, though. RK900 had blue irises that mimicked the LEDs of CyberLife Androids, but this one had gleaming purple irises. She also had a different logo on her jacket (obviously). It was a light gray V formed from three smaller Vs with a dot in the center of it.

Gavin scrolled frantically through the rest of the article.

_ From what we’ve been told, these Androids are built for strength, endurance, and intimidation. These are not your household caretakers, these were built to be tools and only tools. _

_ They will not deviate, and thus are perfect to replace all the CyberLife Androids that were recalled after the so-called revolution.  _

_ “I’m really excited to see Androids become part of society again, in the way that they were intended to.” says Void’s founder and CEO, Bryce Lockwood. Lockwood is absolutely certain that these machines will not deviate, and that they are just as advanced as CyberLife’s own lines of Androids. He even has confidence that they will become more advanced. _

_ Many of you have noticed that this Android looks quite similar to an ST200 model, and you would be correct to make that comparison. _

_ “I wanted to sort of pay homage to where Androids started from,” says Lockwood, “While at the same time creating something bigger and better than Mr. Kamski could ever imagine.” _

Gavin snorted as he read. God, this guy sounded like a real fucking prick. He closed the news app decisively and went to music instead, pulling out his headphones. Vampire Weekend was what popped into his head when he started scrolling through his playlists. Old, but still good.

He let himself zone out for the rest of the ride. There was a lot running through his mind, but for a while he was content to not let it bother him.  He was gonna have enough of a hard time when he got to his brother’s house, anyway.

 

Finally, the wait was over- well, sort of. Gavin hopped off the bus and walked the rest of the way to his house. Of course the fucker lived in a weird, secluded area that was another 20 minute walk from the bus stop. He was glad that it was at least a little warmer now.

Gavin scoffed as the house came into view through the trees. It looked like a crushed soda can. He had a nice view, though, hanging over the lake. There were still some patches of snow that hadn’t melted near the trees. He walked up the path and rang the doorbell for much longer than he needed to. When he didn’t get an answer, he rang it again, and kept going.

“Jesus christ-” Elijah said as he swung the door open, but stopped and blinked when he saw who it was. He broke into a grin, “Brother dear! I was wondering when you’d visit!”

“I hate you.” Gavin sighed as Elijah pulled him into a hug.

“Always so polite.”

“Can you please stop pretending to like me?” he grumbled, “I’ve got a problem back at the station, and I need your help. That’s why I’m here.”

“Oh?”

“Don’t look so fucking smug, it’s kind of your fault anyway.”

“What? How?” Elijah shot him a look as he ushered him inside.

“Have you checked the news today?”

“No. Is it more bullshit about that Lockwood guy? I never trusted him-”

“Yeah, and I had one of his fucking creepy Androids at the station.” Gavin pulled up the article and watched his brother’s face go cold. Elijah pursed his lips.

“You said ‘had’?” he said finally, voice cautious.

“That’s the problem. He escaped sometime last night.” he explained as Elijah led him through the winding corridors of his crushed-can house. Gavin found himself grudgingly enjoying the decor, but he knew he could never live in a place like this. Too big and lonely. How did Elijah do it?

“That does sound like a problem.”

“I need to know if there’s any way to track him.”

“Well, I doubt Bryce is dumb enough to not give his Androids trackers-”

“Trackers stop working in deviants, though. Is there another way?” Gavin asked.

“He- he’s a deviant?” Elijah turned to him in confusion.

“Yes! Why the fuck would a machine be in jail?”

“He said that his Androids are resistant to deviancy.”

“Well, he lied, clearly. Plus, I’m not so sure that RK900 is his own Android.”

“RK900. As in an upgraded version of Connor?” Elijah had stopped in front of a dark gray door. He swung it open and let them into what Gavin could only guess was a living room. 

There were two couches on opposite sides of a sleek gray table. It was too big to be considered a coffee table, but too low to be a normal one. There was a large screen towards the back of the room, above a low fireplace. Once again, beautiful, but it didn’t look lived in at all.

“Don’t you get lonely in here?” Gavin blurted, ignoring the question.

“Certainly not with how often my  _ dear brother  _ visits,” he said dryly, and Gavin rolled his eyes, “So. RK900?”

“Yeah, yeah. He’s definitely an upgraded Connor.”

“Fascinating. So Bryce thought he could just steal my Androids, and then the rest of my technology?”

“This is why I wanted your help. I figure that if I look into whatever shady shit this guy is doing while I try to get RK900 back in custody, it’ll give you an excuse to sue his ass or whatever you want to do.” Gavin said.

“You want me to help you find an Android. Yeah, I can do that.” Elijah nodded.

“Great.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will Gavin find RK900 next chapter? We'll just have to see.


	9. Split Part 2: Electric Boogalo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a rough chapter for Gavin y'all,,

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a serious fic with serious chapter titles but I couldn't think of a better name for this chapter so we ended up with this. Enjoy?  
> (It's a little short, sorry abt that. Next one should be longer)

Gavin bounced his leg nervously. He was sitting with Elijah at his massive dining table. Sunlight was streaming through the large glass windows of the far wall, and it was almost beautiful. Almost. Everything about Eli’s house was a little too lonely to be pretty. Elijah was sitting near him, furiously typing away on his computer. Gavin wished he had any inkling of what he was doing.

“Elijah?” a gentle female voice startled Gavin, “Oh, you have a guest! I- I didn’t realize.” he whipped around to see a Chloe model standing in the doorway.

“What the hell?” he hissed to his brother. Elijah shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, “Why do you still have a Chloe? That’s illegal!”

“Actually, there are still several Chloe's living here.” Elijah said, as if the second part of what he said didn’t even register.

“Jesus christ.” Gavin groaned. Of fucking _course_ his brother still had his Androids. He was rich and powerful and nobody would’ve bothered to come all the way out here.

During the entire exchange, Chloe stayed in the doorway. She clearly had decided that Gavin wasn’t going to do anything about her being there.

“Elijah, you should eat something.” She said. Elijah sighed.

“Thanks, Chloe. I’ll eat in a second. Gavin, let’s go to the kitchen.” He closed his computer and tucked it under his arm. He motioned for Gavin to follow him. Gavin shrugged and followed him, leaving the brightness of the sunlit room for a dim hallway.

“You really need an Android to remind you to eat?” he commented.

“That’s rich, coming from you. You never were the epitome of self-care, and I doubt that much has changed since we last saw each other.”

“At least I don’t use my fancy walking toaster to tell me when to fucking eat.”

“How are you still so against Androids? After all this time?” Elijah looked over at him.

“Because you fucked up the world. Androids fuckin’ everywhere, taking people’s jobs. Look how that ended up for all of us. Well,” he cast a glance towards Chloe, who was ahead of them in the hall, “All us normal people.”

“You say that like you’re not part of the problem.” Elijah said coldly. The shift in his tone startled Gavin a little, “If people were willing to accept change, then things wouldn’t have gone this way.”

“Yeah right.” Gavin scoffed.

Elijah stopped walking. He turned around slowly, his face stony.

“Y’know what? You were right. I shouldn’t pretend to like you.”

“What?”

“You should go.”

“Wait, but RK900-”

“Oh, sorry,” Eli said innocently, “I thought you didn’t care about what happens to Androids.”

“Come on, Eli, this is my fucking job we’re talking about here.” Gavin protested. His brother grabbed his shoulder and started steering him back towards the front door.

“You should have thought about that, then. I’m not helping you.”

“Eli, please-”

“No!” He shouted, “No. You show up at my house after what, 7 years? 7 years of nothing? And then you insult everything I’ve ever worked for. Gavin, if you wanted my help, you should’ve acted like it.”

Gavin stood in shock. In all their lives, he didn’t think he’d ever heard Elijah so mad. Usually Gavin was the one yelling at him. It felt… weird. Bad. He didn’t like it, didn’t like the sudden roiling in his stomach. He backed away towards the door.

“Fine. Fine, I’ll leave. I’m gonna leave you alone in your big, empty, lonely fucking house. You don’t have any people in here, Elijah!” Gavin shouted, “All you have are fucking heaps of plastic.”

He turned on his heels and stalked out the door, slamming it behind him. He… didn’t have a plan, after this. What was he going to do? He didn’t have Elijah’s help, so he was basically fucked unless he thought of some way to make a deviant’s tracker start working again.

Maybe he could send out an alert for a creepy-looking Android- no, that would make the public freak out. The last thing he needed was for Fowler to be on his ass about telling the world that there was a deviant with fucking shark teeth out there somewhere. No, he couldn’t do that. He decided he was going to go home, get incredibly drunk, and leave his problems for Tomorrow-Gavin. Tomorrow-Gavin was gonna hate his guts.

 

He’d unfortunately been correct. It was the next day, and Today-Gavin definitely hated Yesterday-Gavin. Not only because he was no closer to finding RK900 and his brother hated him, but he also had a splitting headache and couldn’t turn the lights on. There he was, stumbling around his apartment trying not to bump into his cats in the dark, trying to make himself breakfast.

He was still in need of more groceries, but there was no way he was going out. It was too bright and too fucking loud outside. He opened his phone and sent another text to Fowler.

**_Super sick. Can’t come in._ **

_You better figure out where that Android is soon, Reed. You’re on thin ice._

What a loving, supportive boss. But yeah, Gavin knew he was right. Maybe once his headache subsided enough, he could try to do more research.

Gavin settled for a sad piece of toast as his breakfast, grabbed a napkin for it, and sat over on the couch. Well, that had been his plan until he saw what was on his couch. _Who._

“Connor?” he asked, bewildered, blinking several times in the dim light. He was sure he was hallucinating. How the fuck was Connor here? Wasn’t he dead or something?

“Hi, Gavin,” Connor got to his feet, “I’m really, really sorry about this.”

“What?” he said dumbly. Connor let out an apologetic sigh. He took a step forward, then another, and suddenly Gavin found himself on the floor. Connor was standing over him.

“I’m going to have to administer a slight electric shock to make you go unconscious.” he said, and Gavin blanched.

“What?” He tried to roll away, but Connor’s hand pinned his wrist down and he felt electricity course through his body.

 

When Gavin awoke, his head felt even worse. He couldn’t tell which way was up, his mouth was dry, and it felt like there was a jackhammer in his skull. It took him a moment to figure out where he was. There was jostling that felt like a car, but he wasn’t in a car seat. As he tried to twist around to see where he was, he realized he was tied up. In the trunk of a car. Fuck.

“Help!” he shouted, voice cracking, “Someone help me!”

“Jesus christ, Reed, calm down!” A voice barked from the front seat of the car. Was that… Hank’s voice? Holy fuck, Connor was back from the dead and had helped Hank kidnap him. What the everloving fuck.

“Anderson? I swear to fuck, let me out of here right now!”

“Or what?” Hank laughed. Gavin growled. His head hurt so bad, it was a wonder he hadn’t passed out or thrown up.

“We’ll let you out once we get to the Lieutenant’s house,” that was Connor, “But you have to promise not to freak out.”

“Not to freak out? You fucking kidnapped me! I am in the trunk of Anderson’s fucking piece of shit car, on what planet would I not freak out about that!” Gavin yelled.

“Look, just save the yelling for inside the house, okay? I don’t want to get the police called on me.” Hank sighed.

“You don’t want the police called on you for fucking kidnapping me, which is a crime. Right. May I remind you that we are the police? I’m gonna fucking call Tina and-”

“No you won’t. I took your phone.” Connor said cheerfully.

“Of fucking course you did,” he groaned, “Shit.” He dropped his head to the floor. This week had been a fucking disaster. His suspect escaped, his brother went off on him then told him to get lost, he got super drunk and then fucking kidnapped! No, by all means, it was not Gavin’s week.

 

After far too long, Gavin felt the car park. He heard Anderson and Connor climbing out of the car, and then a few moments later the trunk cracked open. The blinding light of the outside world made him squint.

Connor pulled him out of the trunk, quickly undoing the ties around his wrists and ankles. He rubbed at the red marks they’d left, stumbling on to the sidewalk. If he’d been any less hungover(and hadn’t been fucking _tased,_ christ) he would’ve punched Connor in his stupid face. As things stood, he could barely walk, so he decided against it.

Instead he stumbled after Hank and Connor up to the front door. Anderson still had a manual lock for his door. Huh. They went inside, the slightly dimmer lighting feeling good on Gavin’s eyes. He took a shaky breath, then made a beeline for the nearest chair. God it felt good to sit down.

“Okay, what the fuck.,” he glared expectantly at Connor and Hank, “What the fuck?”

“Before you get too comfy, there’s uh, one more thing.” Hank said apologetically. Gavin glared daggers at him. Connor jerked his head towards something behind Gavin, and turned to look. Fucking hell. In the hallway stood fucking RK900.

“You have my fucking perp?” he asked incredulously, staring as RK900 walked into the kitchen and did something horrible with his teeth.

“Jesus christ, what was that?” Gavin grimaced, and RK900 almost looked hurt.

“I was smiling. Connor told me that it makes humans more comfortable.” he explained. Gavin scoffed.

“Not when you unhinge your damn jam when you do it,” he said, “Okay, okay wait. How are you here? How did you get out of the station?”

“I told you I couldn’t stay there.” He said simply.

“So you fucking… come here, and now Connor’s back?”

“Actually, Hank and I got him out and brought him here.” Connor piped up.

“Oh, great, so not only did you let him stay here, but you were the ones who broke him out?”

“I can’t go back there, Gavin.” RK900 said firmly.

“Too fucking bad.” Gavin started to stand, but RK900 put a hand on his chest and pushed him back into the chair. It wasn’t even much of a push really, with how weak Gavin’s legs felt. It was almost hot.

“I’m gonna leave you two to figure this out on your own,” Hank said, grabbing Connor’s sleeve, “Come on, Connor.”

Now there was no one to stop RK900 from killing Gavin. Awesome.

“RK900, you have to come back to the station. Fowler’s on my ass about this, and now I have to look into how you were even still there. Like, how did you not get taken back to Cyberlife?”

“Reed, if you take me back there they will kill me. No matter what I have or haven’t done, they will kill me. I shouldn’t exist.” He hissed. Gavin sat back.

“Listen, it’s my fucking job to keep track of you. If I don’t bring you back soon, or make some fucking progress on this, I’ll be reassigned, or fired. I can keep them from killing you! I just need you to cooperate.”

“No,” RK900’s eyes were cold, “Gavin, whatever you think they’ll do to you, what they’ll do to me is worse. Do you know what they did to Connor when he was taken back to Cyberlife?” He was very, very close now and Gavin got the sense he was in over his head.

“No?” He whispered, and RK900 took another small step forward. Their chests were nearly pressed together now.

“They reactivated him and then killed him again. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of times, to see how that would affect deviancy. They put him on operating tables, still awake, and combed through his biocomponents.” Gavin could feel RK900 shaking against him.

“H-How do you know what happened to him?”

“I have those memories,” he responded quietly, “I also have the memories of every time he died before that. The feeling of a bullet entering his forehead, of an arm or a leg being crushed- I have all of that, Gavin.”

Gavin exhaled slowly, pushing his chair back so he could take a step away for a second. His legs were shaky, and it wasn’t just from being tased anymore.

“This is… this is a lot bigger than just you biting Tina, huh?” He said as he paced slowly. He watched RK900 nod out of the corner of his eye.

“I told you to keep an eye on the Void.”

“Yeah. So did they… did they make you after the revolution?”

“Yes.”

“Wow. So you were the Void’s like… test Android?”

“Sort of. Originally I was simply supposed to be an upgraded version of Connor that Cyberlife was going to ship out. Bryce Lockwood was in charge of… that. But then, he decided he wanted to go a different direction with my design.”

“So he decided to make his own line of Androids?”

“Yes.”

“Huh.” Gavin’s eyebrows furrowed. He leaned against the table, trying to process everything. God, Tomorrow-Gavin, and The-Next-Day-Gavin, and The-Next-Next-Day-Gavin were gonna hate him so fucking much.

“What do you need me to do?” He finally said, looking up at RK900, who broke into a grin. It was a real, non-horrifying grin, and it did something to Gavin.

“I suppose you’ll need some way of getting the investigation back on track without bringing me back in.” RK900 paused.

“I have an idea. What if you and Connor skip town for a day or so, and I can go back to work and say that I didn’t find you, but I did see Connor somewhere.”

“Why would we have to leave?” RK900 cocked his head.

“Connor and Hank were partners, so the first place they’d check for him would be Hank’s house. Maybe… maybe the two of you should stay at my house so you don’t end up biting any more police officers.” Gavin was only half-joking.

“That’s probably a good idea.”

“So… that’s it, huh? Shit, what am I gonna say? ‘Oh, I saw Connor on the street, said hi and went on my way’. That’s not gonna fuckin’ work.”

“You could tell the truth. Say that he kidnapped you, but leave out… certain things.” RK900 suggested.

“That might work. Why would he let me go, though?” Gavin frowned.

“I don’t know, but it would leave something to look into.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I can tell Fowler that I’m working on that.”

“By the way, I’m sure you saw the news-”

“Fuckin’ Void Androids look just like you but purple. Yeah, I saw.” Gavin said, and RK900 nodded slowly.

“It might be wise to direct the investigation towards that.”

“Yeah. Sounds like Lockwood is doing something pretty shady shit with the Androids he’s building.”

“That’s putting it lightly.” RK900 said.

“Fuck, my legs feel like jello. Did Connor seriously have to tase me?” Gavin sank back down into the kitchen chair.

“Well, were you going to accompany him quietly?” RK900 raised an eyebrow. Gavin stuck out his tongue.

“Fuck you.”


	10. Searching

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So far the plan was working fine. A squad(including Gavin) had gone to the Lieutenant’s house to investigate, and found nothing. Gavin was for once grateful that Androids didn’t have fingerprints. There was no suspicion on Hank anymore, and Fowler had bought the whole ‘whoops sorry, I don’t remember where I was kidnapped’ thing. It wasn’t that hard to pretend to have amnesia about something that never happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me? Posting a chapter early? It’s more likely than you think- it’s actually super not likely at all, I just don’t want to forget tomorrow. It’ll probably not happen again for a long time lmao.  
> Anyway, we’re back up to full chonky chapter lengths, and I’m actually really happy with this chapter. It’s got a couple scenes that I really enjoy. I hope y’all like it too!

The next few days at Gavin’s apartment were strained. Gavin had already been feeling like shit, and sharing his home with two Androids was not making it any fucking better. Connor and RK900 were doing their best to stay out of his way, and he was doing the same for them, but it was hard to keep his routine the same. Half of the time he’d forget they were there until he walked in on them sitting unmoving, scaring the crap out of him. The other half of the time he’d be in the living room watching TV, hyper aware of the fact that they were in his apartment. To make matters worse, his fucking cats betrayed him. Of course they loved Connor and RK900. He was losing his mind.

He needed to get the hell out of there and stop being stressed out. Not that work would help with the stress very much, but at least he wouldn’t scare himself to death by walking in on two silent Androids. At least Connor had some mannerisms that made him less statue-like, but RK900 was utterly silent most of the time.

“I’m going to work! If the apartment lights on fire, save my cats and nothing else.” he called. He shut the door and heaved a heavy sigh. Fowler was still not happy with him, but there wasn’t much he could do at this point to deal with that. As long as RK900 and Connor laid low, it would be okay. Time heals all fuck-ups.

Plus, so far the plan was working fine. A squad(including Gavin) had gone to the Lieutenant’s house to investigate, and found nothing. Gavin was for once grateful that Androids didn’t have fingerprints. There was no suspicion on Hank anymore, and Fowler had bought the whole ‘whoops sorry, I don’t remember where I was kidnapped’ thing. It wasn’t that hard to pretend to have amnesia about something that never happened.

He felt a little guilty as he sat down at his desk. His to-do list for the day was to try to narrow down which place he might’ve been taken to when he was kidnapped. He had to find a way to steer the investigation back on track before Fowler realized that something was off about the whole kidnapping thing.

“Yo, Gav!” Tina called. Gavin spun around in his chair to face her. He noticed that her arm was out of it’s sling and in a much less bulky cast.

“Your arm looks a lot better.” He said. She smiled.

“Yep. I’m healing nicely, according to my doctor.”

“Good to hear.”

“Anyway, Fowler wants to talk to you.” She made a face.

“Oh, god.” Gavin groaned. He stood up, grimacing, but went over to the Captain’s office anyway. He swung open the doors to reveal a… surprisingly not-pissed looking Captain. He raised his eyebrows.

“Reed. Sit down,” Fowler waited for him to do so, then spoke again, “While looking into your kidnapping is important, there’s something else you might want to look at. Have you been keeping up with the news?”

“Of course.”

“Then I’m sure you’ve noticed that your… escaped perp looks one hell of a lot like those Void Androids.”

“Yeah, I was wondering if I should look into that.”

“I think a good use of your time would be working on that. Of course, your kidnapping is important to us. We want you to be safe, but we still don’t even know why he kidnapped you.”

“Yeah, yeah no it’s cool. Don’t even worry about that.” Gavin stood up, already heading towards the door. This was perfect. Just what he needed!

“O-Okay.” Fowler raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything else as Gavin left his office. Gavin waited till he made it back to his desk before pumping his fist victoriously.

“What’s got you so excited? Fowler yelled at you for 5 minutes instead of 10?” Tina laughed.

“Fuck off, Chen. I got a lead!” he flipped her off while sliding back into his chair.

“That’s good!”

The rest of his day went smoothly as he did his best to look for reasons they could look into the Void. Of course, they could always cite fucking RK900, but that would mean admitting publicly that they had him and then just… lost him. No, Gavin needed to find something else. Something that at the very least would warrant looking around the damn place.

Gavin sighed. His brother probably had some dirt on the guy, since he hadn’t seemed to be a fan when they’d talked. But of course, Gavin had burned that bridge. More like fucking dumped kerosene on it each year since they were teens and then put out his cigarette on it. There wasn’t much of a chance that he’d help Gavin now.

Maybe he could ask RK900 once he got home if there was anything else he noticed that could be used against him. He’d find something eventually. He felt pretty weird about helping RK900, especially when he’d been the one to fucking mangle his best friend’s arm, but he didn’t have much choice.

Gavin stretched in his chair and then stood. He nodded to Tina as he left his desk, then started out towards his bus stop. He was grateful to finally have a real direction for the case, but he was also dead tired. It didn’t matter how much he wanted to keep working, he was about to collapse on his feet.

 

He swung the door to his apartment open and was immediately greeted by three bundles of fluff hurtling towards him. Scooting them away from the doorway with his foot, he shut the door.

“Hey, babies.” he cooed down to his cats. They were always a sight for sore eyes.

A quick glance around the apartment showed nothing out of the ordinary. RK900 was sitting on the couch, flipping absently through a magazine. It was unusual to not see Connor in the same room.

“Yo, 900,” Gavin called as he opened the fridge, “Where’s Connor?”

RK900 stood up and walked over to the kitchen counter as Gavin pulled out a jug of lemonade and poured himself a glass.

“I actually don’t know. He left a while ago.” RK900 said. Gavin blanched.

“He  _ what _ ? You’re not supposed to do that!”

“We’ve been cooped up in this house for a week, he just wanted some fresh air.”

“I don’t care! You’re gonna get fucked up!” Gavin took a couple breaths to calm down, “Y’know what, whatever. Just call him and tell him to get his ass back here right now.”

RK900 nodded, and his eyes blinked yellow. Gavin assumed that meant he was getting in touch with Connor. Several seconds later, he frowned.

“Shit.” RK900 muttured.

“What?”

“He’s not responding.” He sounded panicked, and that freaked Gavin out all the more because he didn’t think he’d ever heard RK900 sound panicked.

What?” Gavin repeated, “Jesus christ, I ask one fucking thing of you two. All you have to do is lay low! Now Connor’s out doing who fucking knows what and he’s not responding?”

He downed his glass of lemonade, wishing it were something that would look a little cooler to chug, then slammed the cup on the counter.

“Fuck.” he said. He glared at RK900, who actually looked a little bit sorry. Serves him fucking right.

“My guess is that Bryce somehow found him and took him to his facility again.” he said. Gavin nodded.

“Probably. Saw that shit on the news about Void Androids being authorized to be sold. I haven’t seen any personally, but I imagine they’re out there. Maybe they were told to hunt him down?”

“That’s not a bad theory. It’s definitely something that Bryce would do.” RK900 said. He paced for a second, then suddenly stopped short. When he faced Gavin again, his eyes were red. He opened his mouth and tried to speak, but nothing came out but static. Then, there was the sound of some sort of speaker crackling to life.

“Hello, RK900. I could broadcast this message directly to your brain, but I figured it would be more dramatic this way.” the words came from a speaker somewhere in 900’s throat, but it wasn’t his voice. With a start Gavin recognized it as Lockwood’s. RK900 looked about as freaked out as Gavin felt.

“You’ve probably noticed that Connor’s not with you anymore. I’ve got him right here! So far he hasn’t been very cooperative, but we’ll fix that. Anyway, now that I’ve got Connor it won’t take me long to find you and Markus too. Enjoy your last few days of freedom!”

With that, RK900 closed his mouth and the sound stopped. He looked frozen in place, eyes still a blaring red.

“Holy fuck,” Gavin whispered, “I need a fucking drink.”

 

Gavin’s head lolled to the side. It was 9:53pm and he was laying on the couch, staring at RK900 who was gazing out the window. His face was stony, but he could see the reflection of his glowing red eyes in the window. Gavin was too drunk to even think about the fact that his eyes hadn’t wavered from red since the message from Lockwood.

“Hey. Hey, you.” he mumbled.

“Yes, Detective?” RK900 didn’t turn around.

“Why the fuck did you kidnap me? Coulda just… let me do my thing. It’s not like I wanted to keep you ‘n Connor cooped up in here.”

“I knew you would look for me, and likely find me. You’re a good detective-”

“Is that a compliment?” Gavin almost chuckled.

“It was a fact,” the smile faded from Gavin’s face when he saw that RK900 hadn’t even looked at him. “You would’ve found me. The best thing to do was find you first and deal with whatever happened. I don’t like this any more than you do.”

“Huh.” Gavin felt around on the floor, grabbing a half-empty bottle of beer and taking a swig.

“What about you? Why are you helping us?” RK900 asked. Gavin stopped. He hadn’t been expecting that.

“Cause you’d kill me if I didn’t. Or, y’know, tie me up in Anderson’s basement or something.”

“Is that it?”

“Why do you care? I’m helping you, end of story.” he slurred. He heard a quiet sigh from RK900.

“I care because there’s something coming, and I need to know that I can trust you when it comes. It can’t just be me and Connor against the world.”

“Dramatic.” Gavin snorted, heaving himself into a sitting position. His head felt so heavy. 

“I know that Markus and Connor made it somewhere safe in Canada, and it sounded like Markus wanted to start another revolution. I know it’s dangerous, but I want things to be different. If a time comes where he needs my help in the revolution, I’ll be there.” RK900 said quietly, turning to face Gavin.

Gavin sighed softly and leaned against the back of the couch, pointedly not looking at RK900.

“Listen, I wouldn’t be caught dead telling anybody this, much less an Android, but… I dunno. Things have changed. People change. Something in my kinda snapped, the night of the revolution. Connor knocked me out in the evidence room, and when I woke up I just went back home and watched the news. I nearly drank myself to fucking death that night, 900.” Gavin sighed, “Watching shit go down on live TV. I dunno. It made me think.”

He downed the rest of his drink, tossed the bottle on the floor and shuddered. He wobbled to his feet, heading towards the fridge.

“Where are you going?” he heard RK900 ask.

“To get another beer.” Before he could put a hand on the door of the fridge, a hand reached out and grabbed his shoulder.

“You said you nearly drank yourself to death the night of the revolution.”

“Yeah. So?” he mumbled. RK900 sighed.

“I’m not letting that happen again tonight. Go to bed.”

“Fuck off, I can do what I want,” Gavin tried to wrench his shoulder free, but his limbs felt weak and 900’s grip was like iron, “fuckin- whatever. Fine.”

He let RK900 guide him away from the fridge. He sat down at the counter for a moment to soothe his spinning head. RK900’s hand slid from his shoulder and he sat back down on the couch. Once the room stopped spinning, Gavin stood up and cast a glance over at the seated RK900.

“Night, tin can.” he mumbled, a half smile fluttering over his face as he saw that RK900’s eyes were now a slightly calmer yellow.

“Goodnight, Detective.”

  
  


Gavin’s head spun as he lay in bed that night, trying to sleep. Partly from all the alcohol, partly from wondering what the fuck he was going to do next. He could continue with the investigation and take his time going into the Void facility, or he could… no. No, there was no way he was telling Fowler. He could lose his job-

Well. If Fowler found out that he was lying of his own accord, it would almost certainly be worse than if Gavin himself came clean. He went back and forth on it for what felt like hours, tying his stomach into knots. Finally he decided that he wasn’t going to tell Fowler yet. He was too much of a coward, fucking sue him.

Gavin tried his best to breathe deeply to soothe the anxiety gnawing at him. Eventually, even though he still felt high-strung, he fell asleep out of pure exhaustion. Whatever happened to going to bed early?

 

Gavin woke up with a pounding head and a turning stomach. He’d hoped that some of the anxiety would have gone away overnight, but he was still just as conflicted. He found himself second-guessing his decision to not tell Fowler as he made himself breakfast that morning. It was quiet in his apartment, but the silence just left room for Gavin’s thoughts to run wild. He hated how it almost looked nice out.

There was golden sunlight streaming through the glass doors to the balcony. The sky was clear. Somehow, even though it looked so peaceful, it made his anxiety worse. He glanced around, surprised not to see RK900 out in the living room. That’s where he spent most of his time, since Gavin had made it clear that he didn’t want either Android in his bedroom, and the only other rooms were the bathroom and the laundry room. Gavin frowned.

He wandered back into the hallway, peering into the bathroom just in case. Maybe he spilled something on himself and needed to clean it off? The bathroom was empty. Gavin felt a sinking feeling as he checked the laundry room (empty), and then even his bedroom (empty again).

“Fuck.” He mumbled, walking back into the kitchen. RK900 fucking went after Connor. Of course he did. Of course he did! They were basically brothers, it seemed, and that’s probably what brothers were supposed to do for each other. Not that Gavin could really talk, but still.

He thought back to Elijah. He wondered if there was any way he could salvage their relationship. Mostly for the purposes of finding RK900, but it would also be nice to talk to somebody in his family and not have it go horribly wrong.

Gavin looked back outside. He walked over to the balcony and slid the doors open. The air was cool, but not enough so that he didn't step outside. He took a deep breath, feeling a little steadier. He knew what he needed to do. He picked up his phone and scrolled through his contacts, finding Elijah's and calling. It rang out for a while, and then went to voicemail. Gavin huffed. He tried again, and then again a few more times. Finally, on the fourth time, Eli picked up.

“What?” Elijah sounded annoyed, and rightfully so.

“Hey, Eli,” Gavin said. Suddenly he had no idea what to say, “Uh, I just- I wanted to apologize.”

“After 36 years? Yeah, thanks so much.”

“Look, I know I suck, okay? And I know there's not much I can do to make up for it. I really need your help though, and if you help me, I might be able to do something for you too.”

“I don’t think you can help me, Gav. Seriously, what could you possibly do for me?” Gavin leaned against the railing.

“You didn’t seem very fond of Lockwood.”

“Yeah, he’s a fucking thief.”

“Well, the thing I need help with has to do with him. Y’know how I said I had to find that RK900?”

“Yep. And then you told me I didn’t have any friends.” Elijah said. Gavin rolled his eyes.

“I found RK900 and Connor, but I’m pretty sure Lockwood is up to some shady shit. He’s got Connor now, and it sounds like he’s doing something to him. RK900 went after him this morning, and I-“ Gavin trailed off. 

“What?” Elijah said after a few seconds 

“I lied to my boss. About this case. I need to help RK900 and Connor, but I have to tell the Captain that I lied. I’m hoping that he’ll… I dunno, take pity on me and let me keep working on this investigation.”

“And if it doesn’t go well, you need money? Yeah, sure, whatever.”

“Wait, really?”

“Yeah. Cause I’m assuming you’re planning to shut down whatever Bryce has going on? Plus it’s not like I’m gonna run out of money.”

“Yep.”

“Yeah, I’ll help you. Just try not to fuck it up, alright?” Elijah said. Gavin nodded, then remembered Elijah couldn’t see that.

“I’ll try not to. I’d rather keep my job.”

“So would I.”

“Alright. Well, thanks, Eli. And… I dunno. I’ll let you know how things go.”

“Bye, Gavin.” His brother’s voice was a lot softer than it had been towards Gavin in a long time. Gavin smiled a little as he turned his phone off.

Now was the even harder part; Telling his boss what he did.  

 

Gavin walked into work pretending everything was normal. He’d sent an email before he left home asking if he could meet with Fowler. He’d gotten a reply pretty quickly saying to come in as soon as he got to work. He fiddled nervously with the hem of his shirt as he walked through the doors of the station. He tried to calm his nerves as he walked up the steps to Fowler’s office.

“Detective Reed, come in.” Fowler called. “What did you want to talk about?”

“Captain, I-“ he took a breath to steady himself, then spoke in a rush. “I… haven’t exactly been telling your everything about this case. I’ve updated all my reports to tell what actually has been happening.” He pulled out a file and handed it over to Fowler. “Here. I know where RK900 is. I also know where Connor is. He and Markus escaped from CyberLife.”

“What?” Fowler stared at him. He grabbed the file and leafed through it, eyes widening.

“Reed, this is… this is a lot that you haven’t told me. A lot that you’ve done behind my back.”

“I need you to trust me on something, Captain.”

“Why should I trust you if you’ve been lying about this?”

“I wouldn’t, honestly, if I were in your position. But there’s something that’s gonna happen soon, and I can make sure that the DPD doesn’t fuck up royally.”

“What are you saying?”

“There’s another revolution coming,” Gavin said quietly, “The Void is trying to stop it.”

“Why shouldn’t we let them?”

“If a second revolution is coming so soon after the first one, how wrong can they be?” Gavin said. He was honestly surprised at how quickly his own opinions had changed. It wasn’t long ago that he would’ve scoffed at someone saying what he just said.

“Captain, all I need is for you to let me investigate the Void, like I was going to. Then you can decide whether to trust me or not.”

Fowler leaned back in his chair, eyes narrowing. He tapped his fingers on the desk.

“I’m going to read over your reports carefully and see just how much you fucked up.  _ Then _ I’ll decide whether you’re still doing this investigation.”

Gavin nodded. He knew he wasn’t in a position to ask any more of Fowler, so he turned and left. He honestly hadn’t been expecting Fowler to agree to that at all, but he at least still had his job. Now all he had to do was hope that Fowler trusted him enough to continue the investigation.

Gavin stayed at his desk for most of the day, going through paperwork. A little after lunch, his phone started ringing. He fished it out of his pocket, glancing at the screen. It was an unknown number, so he ignored it and let it ring. He turned back to his work, but moments later it rang again. It was the same number, so he picked it up with a grumble. As he took the call he wandered over to the break room.

“Hello, Gavin.” The familiar voice said.

“RK900?” Gavin asked.

“Yes.” he responded.

“How did you get my number?”

“That’s not important. Gavin, I need your help.”

“After you fucking ghosting me?” he snorted, “No way!”

“Please. I can’t get Connor back on my own!”

“Well, tough. Both of you fucking ran off on me. Besides, I don’t even know if I can help you. I uh… shit.”

“What?” RK900 sounded alarmed, “What did you do?”

“Fuck. I uh, I told Fowler. I updated all my reports to say what actually happened, so Fowler knows about you.”

“What the hell?”

“I know! But I figured that if I really want to be able to help you-”

“You just said you didn’t want to help.”

“I’m an asshole, okay? I was just mad that you left. If I really want to help you, I can’t keep going behind Fowler’s back.”

“That… makes sense. But why didn’t you warn me? Gavin, this could be disastrous for me and Connor- and everyone else.”

“I know. But listen, hopefully Fowler will be on our side.”

“And if he’s not?”

“Then I’ll deal with it, alright? Just trust me.”

“Fine. But you  _ will  _ deal with it if things go wrong.” There was a soft click and the line went dead. Gavin heaved a sigh. He really should’ve told RK900 first, but the anxiety had been eating away at him in an unbearable way. He just hoped that this way, he’d be able to keep his job and help RK900. He wasn’t even sure why he was helping RK900.

Ever since the revolution, Gavin had been feeling… unsure about where he stood, to say the least. He’d hated Connor when they met, but something in him felt off when he saw the news updates on the response to the revolution. Seeing the Androids gunned down in the streets, blue blood spilling everywhere, and the lack of outrage from people. It felt wrong. He still had his reservations, of course. Things had gone to shit, and if society hadn’t been so reliant on Android labor then there wouldn’t have been such a crash after the failed revolution.

After everything that happened, though, no sane person could have no doubts at all of their beliefs. When Gavin saw someone who looked like a human get shot and bleed out in the street, it did something to him. It made his guts twist in the way they would if he watched a human get shot. Sue him, he didn’t like watching people die.

He’d been stuck for a while now, though. It had been months since the revolution and despite the uncertainty, people seemed more resolute in their hatred than ever. Gavin had been on the hatred train for so long that he didn’t really know how to step off, but this felt… right. This felt like a start, at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gavin: i gotta help nines  
> Nines: i need help  
> Gavin: no  
> Nines: ???


	11. Lost and Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin goes on a mission yayyyy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this is late y'all!! I don't think I'll be able to update for the next few weeks so the next update will most likely be August 5th or 6th, but still check back in every Monday to see if I've managed to post anything! I've been way busier than I thought I would be lmao. Anyway this chapter is a mess but I'm doing my best

Gavin’s apartment had felt strangely lonely now that both Connor and RK900 were gone. For the past week he’d been able to count on their presence being somewhere in the back of his mind. Now, he was on his own again. He ignored how much he was suddenly missing the presence of another human-shaped thing in his apartment.

He was putting together a plan for how he would get the RKs back. Currently, it was to go in during the day in some sort of disguise, then stay overnight and find RK900. Hopefully RK900 had already located Connor, so they could get him out. He knew he needed some sort of backup, though, in case things went wrong. Tina was obviously his first choice, so he’d asked Fowler earlier if she could be on his team. Fowler agreed, but told him that he needed more than just her.

So far, his team consisted of Chen, Miller, and Person. They were going to be stationed in a nearby building, with a direct line to him. His goal was to get in and out without any conflict, but he didn’t know how likely that was. CyberLife was heavily guarded, he knew, so Void was probably similar in that aspect. He did wonder what it would look like in comparison, though.

Gavin had taken a tour when the Cyberlife tower was first built, and he remembered being intimidated by the shiny whiteness of it all. That had been only weeks before he and Elijah had fallen out. After that, Gavin didn’t contact him again for seven years.  _ Seven fucking years. _ Honestly, Gavin didn’t know how he managed that. He wasn’t exactly amazing at keeping in touch, but for a large chunk of that time he didn’t have anyone to talk to.

Then, he befriended Tina Motherfucking Chen, the one and only, the woman the myth the legend. She’d saved him, honestly. When he moved to their current precinct, he’d been in a rough place in terms of mental health. She’d taken him under her wing, and to this day was his closest friend. Of course she would be the first person he’d want on his backup team. He just hoped that things would go well so she wouldn’t have to come rescue his ass.

 

The next morning, the nerves were already gathering in Gavin’s stomach when he woke up. He did his best to keep his routine the same to try to keep him calm. Up out of bed, go to the bathroom, feed the cats, make breakfast. The anxiety was still there, but petting his cats helped a little. They may have all been little shits, but Gavin loved them.

 

When Gavin got to work, Tina made a beeline for him.

“I hope you’ve got a good reason you’re making me go out in the field today while I’m still injured!”

“Relax,” he said, “You’re basically healed, right? Plus, if everything goes well, you won’t even need to move.”

“Yeah, well, it’s you, so I guarantee everything won’t go as planned.” She pointed out.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Chen.” He rolled his eyes.

“Any time.” She flashed him a grin.

With that, Gavin went to Fowler’s office to finalise his plans. He was going to go with Chen, Miller and Person to get them set up, then he was going to waltz right into the Void facility. He was going to wander for a while, keeping an eye out for Connor and Nines, then he would find a place to hide. At night, he would get Nines and Connor and get the fuck out.

Fowler approved his plan, wished him luck, and then told him to go get his team ready. Gavin nodded and left the office.

“How we doing?” Tina asked when he came out.

“The plan has been approved. Go get Miller and Person.” He said. She gave a dramatic salute with her good arm.

“Sir yes sir.”

She walked away, and Gavin wandered over to the break room. He made himself a cup of coffee and leaned against the table.  As he sipped it, he realized it was probably a mistake to drink more coffee. He was already jittery enough. He shrugged the thought away, though. It was going to be a long day, and he needed to be alert while he looked for Nines.

Tina and the others soon found him. 

“You ready?” Chris asked.

“I sure hope so.” Gavin said, taking another sip of his coffee.

“We should get going if we want to be set up in time.” Tina said. Gavin nodded. 

“We’ll take a police vehicle so we can fit all of us and the Androids.” He said. He heard Person grumble quietly behind him, but didn’t pay attention.

Gavin took a steadying breath before walking out of the building. His team was all set up, now all that was left to do was actually go into the Void facility. No biggie. Except it kind of was. If this didn’t go well, he had no idea how he was going to get Nines and Connor out.

He looked back over his outfit one more time. A generic, smart looking jacket, a lanyard, and nice pants. God, he hoped he would blend in. he crossed the street and once again took in the building before him.

It was glossy and black like the Cyberlife tower, but it had a hint of purple to it. Of course, it was also much smaller. Void didn’t have all the press and the money that Cyberlife had, certainly not enough to build a gigantic tower in the middle of Detroit. Gavin was sure that with the ego Lockwood had, as soon as he had the money he’d resize.

He pushed away his nerves as he pushed open the door to the building. It looked… fuck, the inside even looked like Cyberlife. Everything was the same, except the shiny whites had been replaced with glossy blacks and purples. Gavin tried not to grimace. Everything Lockwood did was so clearly an imitation of Cyberlife, it was almost hilarious. Almost.

He was surprised to see only a few people in the lobby. None of them even glanced at him as he walked in. He slid past the reception desk easily, which he was relieved by, but also confused. Why didn’t anybody care? As he looked around, he realized that the outfit he’d chosen blended perfectly with what everyone else was wearing. Black pants, black shoes, black jacket. He looked like he belonged. Honestly, he wasn’t sure he really liked that.

Nonetheless, he had a job to do. He followed the signs until he reached an elevator. He got in, thankful that no one else was in it. As he scanned the floor levels, he concluded that floor 4 must be where he was headed.  _ Research and Testing _ . It had sounded like they’d done a lot of ‘testing’ on Connor last time, so he might as well check. He pushed the elevator button, and it lit up a soft purple.

When the elevator doors slid open for the fourth floor, he was immediately greeted with a face he recognized. Bryce Lockwood himself, pushing a cart past. Gavin blanched.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” Lockwood glanced over at him, pausing in the hall.

“I, uh-” Gavin couldn’t stop staring at the cart. There was something vaguely arm-shaped under the sheet covering it.

“Can’t come up here with only a green lanyard. You need yellow or higher.” Lockwood said, then kept walking. Gavin blinked down at his lanyard.

“Sorry. I must’ve pressed the wrong button.” He stumbled. Bryce simply shrugged as he continued on his way. 

Gavin stepped back into the elevator, letting out a sigh of relief as soon as the doors closed. Holy. Shit. That could have gone so horribly, but everything was fine. It was one hell of a coincidence that he’d bumped into Lockwood himself immediately, but he didn’t suspect a thing. He just thought Gavin was an employee who went to the wrong floor, nothing to be suspicious about. Right? God, he sure hoped so.

He went one floor lower, thankful that nobody greeted him right away. Quickly he found a small supply closet and slid inside, pausing to make a plan. Fourth floor was obviously the place to go, proven by Bryce and whatever the hell had been on that cart. He needed at the very least a yellow lanyard to be up there, and he couldn’t start talking to anyone or they’d figure out he wasn’t supposed to be there. Shit.

He turned on the flashlight of his phone and looked around the closet he was in. Maybe someone had left a spare lanyard lying around? It was a long shot, but he searched anyway. There were piles of boxes on the shelves, and as he leafed through them, he realized that a lot of the documents were probably from Cyberlife. There were pieces of paper detailing different biocomponents or ratios of chemicals to use in different things. God, Elijah would have a fucking aneurism if he saw them. Gavin almost laughed out loud thinking about that.

As he came across files on Android arm muscles, he thought back to the covered shape on Bryce’s cart. Had it really been an arm? Oh fuck, what if it was Connor’s arm? He had to find the Androids and get out of there fast. When he checked his phone, he was relieved to see that it was almost late enough for him to try to sneak up to the fourth floor. He slide silently out of the supply closet.

Wandering the halls of the third floor didn’t do much good, but he eventually found himself somewhat familiar with the twisting shapes of it. He passed a few people, and had seen numerous rooms that were mostly empty. Void was still a fairly new company, he reasoned, so it made sense for not a lot of people to work there. Plus, Lockwood probably only brought his most loyal over from Cyberlife with him.

“I’m sorry, sir.” Gavin felt himself get knocked to the side a little bit. He spun around to see a strikingly familiar face.

“Uh. It’s fine.” he said to the Chloe standing in front of him. Well, she wasn’t a Chloe, not really. She was modeled after one, clearly. The only differences he could see were the trademark Void attributes, and that her hair was a light brown instead of blonde.

“You don’t work here.” She said, tilting her head. Her eyes were the same glittering black as RK900’s, though once again they had purple irises instead of blue.

“No, I was just taking a tour.” he said, hoping his smile was convincing enough. She blinked slowly, then nodded.

“Okay.” She turned away and continued walking. As she walked down the hall, Gavin noticed something on the floor. A yellow lanyard. Perfect! It must’ve fallen off when they bumped into each other. When she turned the corner, he scooped it up and replaced his green lanyard with it.

He made his way quickly back to the elevator and went to the fourth floor, praying that he didn’t run into anyone again. The hall was clear, and he found another small room to duck into. There, he would wait until all the lights in the building were shut off. His phone buzzed in his pocket.

_ Status report? _ It was Tina.

**_All good. Made it to the floor i think theyre on_ **

_ Nice nice _

**_Im fuckin terrified tho_ **

_ Try not to shit urself _

**_Wow thanks. Ill do my best_ **

_ Good _

**_Can u see when the lgights are on in here?_ **

**_*lights_ **

_ Yeah dude. Want me to tell u when they’re all off? _

**_Ye. the lights in the room im in arent on so idk_ **

_ I gotchu _

**_Thanks T_ **

  1. _once again, do not shit ur pants_



 

He shut his phone off with a sigh. Now, all that was left to do was wait.

  
  
  


Gavin did his best to keep his gun steady, sweeping his flashlight across the hallway. He rounded a corner and quickly shut his flashlight off as the beam flashed across a figure in the hall. It was too late, though, the figure saw him. He leveled his gun as the figure walked towards him, then stopped.

“Wait, 900?” he whispered, turning his flashlight back on. RK900 blinked as the light shone in his face.

“Gavin, what are you doing here?” His eyes were a steady blue.

“I came to rescue you and Connor, asshole!”

“I found Connor already, I just-” RK900 stopped. He looked upset. “I don’t know how to get him out safely. Lockwood is doing horrible things to him, Gavin-” his eyes were now a blinking red. Gavin put a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey. We’re gonna get him out of here, alright?” he said. RK900 nodded, then glanced behind Gavin.

“Don’t look behind you.” He hissed. Gavin blanched.

“What?” he said. Before he could register any movement, 900 was darting past him.

There was a heavy thud of metal hitting metal, and suddenly RK900 had another Android shoved up against a wall. It was baring its teeth at him, trying to rip into the chassis of his arm. Gavin gave a shout of surprise as two more Androids appeared from the shadows. 

He pulled his gun back out, leveling it at one of them. He managed to shoot one in the chest before it reached him, but the bullet didn’t seem to do much damage. It twisted his arm behind his back and shoved him to the ground, clearly with the intention of breaking a bone. Gavin let out a cry of pain but rolled free of the Android’s grip, kicking it away.

Before he could stand back up, it was on top of him. It hit him in the face a few times, but Gavin grabbed the collar of its shirt and pulled it so its head smashed into the ground. It made a sickening crunch and then rolled off of Gavin.

He scrambled to his feet to see that RK900 had incapacitated the first Android, but now the remaining one held RK900 in the air by his throat. Before he could think, Gavin found himself shouting.

“Hey, asshole!” he threw his flashlight at the Android, causing it to drop RK900 in surprise. Even though its attention was no longer on 900, it was probably not the wisest idea Gavin had ever had. He backed up as the Android stalked towards him, shoving him against the wall and wrapping both hands around his throat. Gavin gagged but managed to get a hand on his gun. With quickly weakening hands, he raised the gun and put it right under the Android’s chin.

Gavin squeezed his eyes shut and then pulled the trigger, gasping for air as the hands around his throat fell away. He put his gun back in its holster and rubbed at the blue blood that was now splattered across his face. He flashed a grin at RK900.

“Take that, asshole.” he toed the lifeless body of the Android on the ground. Then immediately regretted it.

“I had that under control.” RK900 said with a frown.

“What, I don’t get a thank you?”

“You could’ve been badly hurt, Gavin.” RK900 took a step closer.

“It’s my fucking job to protect you!”

“But you’re-” RK900 tugged at his hair in frustration, “You’re a human! You die, and that’s it!”

“Yeah, well, you’re a unique model.  _ You _ die, that’s it.” Gavin spat.

“My parts can be replaced,” RK900 was only a few inches away now, “You can’t be fixed the same way I can.”

“Nines, you don’t- You think I care if I get hurt?” Gavin’s voice broke, “Would you rather I watched you die? Like him!” he gestured at the Android body on the ground, “Frozen in place, bleeding all over. You want me to watch that? I’d rather be hurt than watch you fucking die in front of me.”

Gavin suddenly found himself getting slammed into a wall for the second time that night. RK900’s hands were fisted into his shirt, keeping him a few inches off the ground. His eyes were a panicked yellow. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something, then closed it again. Slowly, he lowered Gavin back to the ground, staying with his hands gripping Gavin’s shirt until his eyes finally went blue again.

RK900’s hands fell to his sides.

“You called me Nines.” he said quietly. Gavin blinked.

“Yeah. I did.”

“I’m going to register that as my name.”

“I- I didn’t mean to like, give you a name,” Gavin stumbled, “I always assumed you had a real name that you just didn’t tell me. Or that I didn’t ask about.”

“No. Lockwood didn’t bother to give me a name,” RK900 said after a pause, “Registered name, Nines.”

“Nice.” Gavin gave his shoulder a weak pat. RK900- No, Nines, smiled.

“Let’s get Connor and get out of here.” he said.

“I second that. Lead the way, Nines.”

Nines led Gavin down the dark hallways, twisting down several corridors that Gavin hadn’t seen before. Eventually, Nines held his hand out for Gavin to stop as they entered a hallway with large windows to a dark room. Gavin could see a dim glow coming from one end of the room.

“Connor’s in there.” Nines said softly, jerking his head towards the window.

“How do we get in?” he whispered.

“There’s a door at the other end of the hall. I need to disable the security system first, because we don’t have a pass for the room.”

“Alright.” Gavin said. As they walked down the hallway, Gavin squinted into the darkness on the other side of the glass. He could make out the vague shape of Connor hooked up to something, but he looked… off. 

There was a gentle click and the lock on the door turned green. Gavin turned his attention back to Nines, who was opening the door. They entered the room, and Gavin’s assessment of Connor being ‘off’ was much more accurate than he wanted to admit.

He was hanging by his wrists a few inches off the ground, legs dangling stiffly. There were wires connected to his neck. He didn’t have a shirt, and his synthetic skin had peeled back across his entire right arm and chest. Said right arm was also off, both literally and metaphorically. Connor’s normal arm was lying on a table next to him, but there was a shiny new one attached to his shoulder. It’s chassis was black instead of white. 

Nines swore, and Gavin glanced at him.

“It’s okay, we’ll get him out of here.”

“I know, it’s just-” Nines stopped, “I knew Bryce was up to something, I just didn’t know he’d already removed his arm. I thought I would be able to get him out before he really did something.”

“Could we reattach his old arm?” Gavin gave it an experimental poke.

“No, look at the artificial muscles that would attach to his shoulder. They’ve been mangled, they could never reattach.”

Nines was right. The bundles of wires were cut roughly and unevenly. Gavin sighed.

“Alright, well, I guess we just gotta work with what we have. Should we wake him up somehow?”

“I suppose so.”

“Alright. I’m gonna let my backup know to get ready for us to leave. They’re gonna get you and Connor back to the precinct.”

“What will happen to me?” Nines turned to him.

“Honestly, Nines? I don’t know.” Gavin swallowed, feeling the Android’s eyes burning into him. Nines turned back towards Connor after a heavy pause.

He stepped forward, placing a gentle hand on Connor's left wrist. Immediately Connor’s eyes flew open and he gasped out loud.

“Connor! Connor, it’s me, it’s okay!” Nines held his hands out reassuringly. Connor wrenched his wrists free from the restraints and dropped to the floor. His synthetic skin was disappearing and reappearing rapidly, never fully covering his chest and arm. He scrambled backwards away from Nines, gaze focused on his teeth.

“Hey, hey, Connor, focus.” Gavin stepped forward, “It’s just us, okay? Gavin and N- uh, RK900. We’re here to get you out.”

Connor’s gaze flicked between him and Nines for several moments, Gavin slowly approaching the whole time. Finally, he collapsed into Gavin’s outstretched arms.

“Uh- Oh, shit, okay. Nines, help me get him outta here?”

“On it.”

 

“You did it, Gav!” Tina high-fived him as they loaded a mostly-unconscious Connor into the car.

“Yeah. Gotta figure out what to do with them when we get back to the precinct, though.” he said.

“True. These are some pretty weird circumstances though, so maybe Fowler will be cool about it.”

“I just don’t know what ‘being cool’ will look like. Will they stay with me?”

“I dunno, man. You’ll figure it out. Now, let’s get back to the precinct.” Tina patted him on the shoulder and climbed into the car. Gavin was about to climb back into his seat when he noticed Officer Person standing nervously at the back of the vehicle.

“Hey, aren’t you driving? Let’s get moving.” he called.

“I-I don’t wanna drive these things back to the precinct.” She mumbled, jerking her thumb towards Nines and Connor. Gavin scowled.

“Look, we don’t have time for this. This is an official investigation, so let’s go.”

“Why did we save those machines, huh? What do we need them for?” She protested.

“Listen,” Gavin leaned in, “I don’t give a shit about what your opinions are right now. But if you fuck up my investigation, I promise you that you never get the opportunity to fuck up anything ever again, because you will be dead. Got it?”

“Got it.” Her eyes were wide, and she scrambled back into the driver’s seat. Gavin got in the passenger’s seat, slamming the door loudly and glaring at her from his seat. Her hands were jittery as she started the car.

 

It was 12:15am by the time they got back to the precinct. Gavin was still a little hopped up on adrenaline, so he wasn’t too tired, but Tina kept yawning.

“Reed.” Gavin turned to see Fowler approaching.

“Captain.”

“You were telling the truth.” He said, glancing over at Nines. Connor was in stasis again, which Nines had deemed the safest state for him to be in. They’d put him in Gavin’s desk chair and wrapped a jacket around his shoulders. It wasn’t as if he needed it, but it was unnerving seeing his skin flicker on and off in patches.

“Do I get to continue the investigation?” Gavin asked. Fowler paused for a second, then nodded.

“Yes. Continue investigating whatever the Void is doing and figure out why they made RK900 and did that to Connor. Due to the unusual circumstances of the situation, I don’t think it’s a good idea to keep Connor or RK900 in the precinct-”

“Uh, it’s Nines now.” Gavin interrupted quietly.

“What?”

“RK900 chose a name. Nines.”

“Okay,” Fowler raised an eyebrow, “Well, it’s not a good idea to keep Connor or  _ Nines _ in the precinct, so do you think they would be safe staying with you? Assuming they don’t run off again.”

“Yeah, I should have space. It’s not like they need to eat anything, so it should be fine.” He joked. Fowler didn’t laugh.

“Go home, Reed. Take the Androids with you.”

“Got it. Hey, Nines!” Gavin called, “Let’s get going. I need some fucking rest.”

“Okay.” Nines leaned over and picked Connor up. Connor still didn’t wake up.

 

They made it back to his apartment in good time, due to the fact that few people are out driving at ass-o-clock in the morning. Gavin ignored the fact that Nines’s eyes were still blazing red and hadn’t wavered since they freed Connor. Gavin helped Nines haul Connor up to his apartment, hoping that if anyone saw they’d just think he was a drunk friend.

When they made it inside and dumped Connor’s still-sleeping body on the couch, Gavin let out a long sigh.

“Think he’s gonna be okay?” Gavin asked tiredly. When Nines didn’t respond, he glanced over to him. His face was stony, mouth pressed into a thin line.

“Nines?” Gavin asked. Nines turned away from him slightly, and Gavin saw his nose twitch. Moments later, Gavin saw a drop slide down his cheek.

“Shit, Nines!”

“Please refrain from looking at me.” Nines said, his voice sounding staticy as more tears rolled down his cheeks. He covered his face with his hands.

“Hey, hey,” Gavin rached a hand out and put it on his shoulder, “Nines, it’s gonna be okay.” Shit shit shit, Gavin was way too tired to try to comfort a crying Android. He gently took Nines’s hands and pulled them away from his face. Nines refused to meet his eyes.

“I know this is tough, but he’s gonna pull through.” Gavin said, cradling his face with his hands. Nines’s skin was surprisingly soft.

“I know it’s likely he’ll be fine, but I’m… scared. And… sad, I think?” Nines mumbled.

“Oh, man. I know a thing or two about being sad,” Gavin huffed out a laugh, “Listen, things always feel worse when it’s late. Let’s both get some rest, then we can figure something out in the morning. Connor’s gonna be alright.”

“Okay.” Nines nodded numbly. He stepped away from Gavin and sat on the couch next to Connor, combing through his hair gently before closing his eyes. Gavin watched for a moment, then walked slowly back to his bedroom, shooing his cats out of the way as he collapsed onto his bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was rough. Next chapter's gonna be DUMMY THICC so get ready for that I guess?  
> And then there's going to be a small break, as we've reached the end of the first part of this story faster than I expected! Se y'all next chapter


	12. Cassie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connor sends a message and Gavin keeps his job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im so sorry this is so late, it's been a weird few weeks. This chapter is super fucking long though, so I hope that makes up for the lateness!

Gavin woke up late the next morning. He was glad he had the day off, because he felt like death. Also, he had to deal with the two Androids in his living room. He rolled over in his bed, not wanting to get up yet. Prissy climbed up on the bed next to him, poking at his face with her paw and purring loudly.

“Hey, baby. I bet you’re hungry, huh?” he mumbled. After a few more minutes of lying in bed and his two other cats joining the poke-session, he finally got up.

“Alllllright, let’s get you some breakfast.” He rolled out of bed and stood up. He padded into the kitchen, surprised to see Nines up and making something on the stove. The early morning light was filtering through his living room curtains and almost made Nines’s skin glow.

“Good morning, Detective.”

“What are you doing?” Gavin asked, rounding the corner of the counter and opening the drawer that held the cat food.

“I’m making breakfast.” Nines answered simply.

“You don’t need to eat.”

“But you do. I awoke recently and figured it would be better to find something to occupy myself than to sit and think. So I started making you breakfast.”

“Huh. Thanks, I guess?” Gavin filled the cat’s bowls up again, turning his attention towards them instead of Nines for a moment.

“When should we wake Connor?” Nines asked.

“Let me eat and have a cup of coffee first, I’m not doing that on an empty stomach.” he said. He glanced at what Nines was cooking. There were a few pieces of bacon sizzling in the pan, and for the first time Gavin noticed that it smelled amazing. Wordlessly, Nines transferred the bacon onto a plate and handed it to Gavin.

“It’s far from a complete breakfast, but you don’t have much in the way of food. You should have an apple as well.” Nines nodded his head towards the fruit bowl. Gavin grabbed an apple and rinsed it in the sink, then sat down at the counter and glanced over at Connor. He almost looked peaceful, flopped over on the couch. Almost.

Nines quietly started brewing him coffee as he ate. He sipped it in silence, occasionally glancing over at Nines again. He drained the last dregs of his coffee and then set the cup back down.

“Welp,” Gavin clapped his hands together, “Let’s wake him up, shall we?”

“I suppose we shall. Be careful, though, Gavin. He was very alarmed when we found him.”

“Yeah, I remember. Try to uh, keep a handle on your teeth, I guess?” Gavin winced when he saw Nines bristle at that. He hadn’t meant it to be mean, but he didn’t exactly have a way with words.

“Fine.”

Gavin stood and walked cautiously over to Connor. He placed a hand on his knee and shook it gently. For a moment, Connor looked like a human simply waking from a nap. 

Then his eyes snapped all the way open and focused, and he screamed, scrambling back away from Gavin.

“Connor, it’s me, it’s okay. You’re safe and you’re at my apartment.” he tried to keep his voice steady.

“D-Detective Reed?” he gasped.

“Yeah, and Nines- uh, RK900’s here too. It’s okay, we got you outta that place.”

“You called him Nines?” Connor whispered after a long pause.

“Yeah.”

“RK900, you’ve got a name?” Connor turned to Nines, who nodded gently. Connor grinned shakily. “Nines. I like it. What happened to my arm?”  He glanced down at the arm that had been replaced, and immediately the smile dropped from his face. He tried to lift it, but it flopped back down after a moment.

“Lockwood… replaced it, I guess.” Gavin winced.

“Oh.” Connor poked at it with his other hand, then wiggled his fingers experimentally. He carefully kept his face neutral, blank, as he slowly got control over his arm. His skin was flickering on and off more erratically than it had while he was in stasis.

Eventually he managed to lift the arm up and flex it, turning his hand around to look at it. There were cracks in his blank expression now, lips pursed and slightly downturned. He blinked a couple of times then dropped his arm, looking away.

Unsure of what to do, Gavin put a hand on his knee to try to comfort him, but Connor flinched away. Gavin retracted his hand, looking desperately at Nines to see if he knew what to do. To his dismay, Nines looked just as lost as him.

They let Connor sit in uncertain silence for a few more seconds before Nines spoke.

“Connor, after Lockwood took you, he sent me a message.”

“What? What message?” 

“He was going to send Androids after me and Markus. So far the only Void Androids I’ve run into are in the facility itself, but we should keep an eye out. We also need to get a message to Markus somehow.”

“Markus,” Connor’s eyes seemed to focus hearing his name, “I have to get to Markus.” He started to stand up, but Gavin gently pushed him back down by the shoulders.

“No way. You barely made it to Canada once, no way you’re doing it again.” He said firmly.

“But- I have to warn him.”

“Then send him a message. I’m not letting you leave.” Nines said.

Connor looked like he was going to say something, then looked back down at his arm again.

“Fine.” He mumbled. He turned away from the two of them, making it clear that the conversation was over. Gavin sat back with a sigh. Connor looked absolutely miserable, and Gavin couldn’t blame him. He’d just lost a fucking arm and then had a different one slapped on with no knowledge of why or how. He’d be freaking out too.

Gavin watched out of the corner of his eye as Connor stayed still for a moment, blinking rapidly. 

“I sent a message to Markus.” He said softly. Gavin nodded.

“Good.”

With another sigh, Gavin went to his room and retrieved his laptop, then sat at the kitchen counter to try to work on his report of what happened. He described seeing Lockwood with what was definitely an arm on his cart. Gavin was pretty sure that it had been the new arm on that cart.

He wrote about the thing Connor had been hooked up to and the Androids that had attacked him and Nines. Briefly he wondered if that was the Void’s version of a security system. It must’ve been, otherwise why would there have been Androids roaming the halls at night? He also mentioned the not-Chloe who had dropped the pass. What a strange mistake for an Android to make.

Later, Connor went to some other room. Gavin wasn’t sure where, but now it was just him and Nines in the kitchen. Gavin shut his laptop and turned to the Android next to him.

“Yo, Nines.”

“Yes?”

“How’d you escape from Cyberlife?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“I’m just curious. Like, if they had you all hooked up like Connor was, how’d you get out?”

“They didn’t have me hooked up when I escaped,” Nines answered, “I played along with what they wanted so they wouldn’t keep me like that. I was a deviant from the moment Connor transferred his memories to me, but I didn’t show any signs of it. I was still aware of my instructions enough to follow them and keep myself safe.”

“So you played machine? And it worked?”

“Yes.” Nines’s eyes were a thoughtful yellow, “I made sure they didn’t suspect anything and would leave me alone. Then, one night, I snuck off and found Connor again. He was being held in the same room as Markus, who I didn’t know was there.”

“Whoah.”

“I reactivated Connor, amd Connor wanted me to reactivate Markus too. I don’t think Markus trusted me very much, but it was very interesting to meet him, especially after seeing Connor’s memories of the revolution.”

“God, yeah, I keep forgetting that you just… have his memories. Or saw them, I guess. Do you still have them?” Gavin asked.

“Yes. I have them in a folder, though I don’t particularly like going through them. It feels invasive.” Nines said, and Gavin nodded.

“Makes sense. So I guess you probably already had your opinions on me before you even met me, huh?”

“Yes,” Nines made a sound that sounded suspiciously like a laugh, “Though I’ll admit they’ve changed since then.”

“Oh yeah?” Gavin smirked, “What do you think of me now?”

“You’re less of an idiot than I previously thought, though both me and Connor could still hand your ass to you easily.”

“I’d like to see you try.” Gavin scoffed.

“I’m sure you would.”

“Fuck off. I’m gonna finish this report.” He huffed, and Nines let out a noise that was definitely a laugh.

 

When Gavin next went to work, he was met with a surprise that he was not prepared for. Standing patiently next to his desk was one of the fucking Void Androids. To be more precise, it was the one he’d talked to in the hallway, the not-Chloe. He tried not to outwardly show his panic as he approached her.

“Hi, what can I do for you?” He asked, and she looked up at him.

“Oh! Hi. Is there somewhere we can talk in private? Mr. Lockwood sent me to ask about investigating into something that happened at the Void facility.” She said sweetly. Nothing on her face betrayed that she already knew who Gavin was. Maybe it was a different not-Chloe?

“Uh, sure, yeah. Here, we can go to over here.” He said nervously. She nodded. He led her along and opened the door to one of the interrogation rooms, but made sure not to lock the door behind them in case he needed to get the fuck out of there.

“I’m sure you recognize me from the other day, Detective.” She said once he closed the door. The smile still hadn’t dropped from her face. Fuck.

“Are you gonna kill me?” He asked weakly. She laughed.

“No! No, I assure you I’m not. Mr. Lockwood wanted me to start an investigation into the theft of… something from the facility,” she said carefully, “So he sent me. I’m not particularly fond of him, though, and I figured that you would sympathize.”

“How much do you know?” Gavin asked. His legs felt weak and his head was spinning. Was not-Chloe on his side?

“About you? Oh, not very much. Except that you helped the RK900 to break Connor out. I dropped that keycard for you, you know.”

“You- you did that on purpose?” Gavin’s eyes widened, “Why did you help me?”

“Because you can help me.”

“How?”

“I presume that you’re investigating Void in some respect. It wouldn’t make sense for you to break in otherwise, especially not because it was clearly police-approved. I want you to take Mr. Lockwood down, Detective.” She was still smiling, but it was cold and tight.

“But he made you.”

“So? He’s a despicable person, and he shouldn’t have the power to do whatever he pleases. I was watching when he removed Connor’s arm, Detective. And he was the one who, he-” She stopped, then started again, “He made me to be a terrifying version of the Chloe that everyone loved, the one that nobody was scared by. He made me to scare people. To remind them that I’m a machine.”

She bared her teeth at him, and for a moment they looked normal. Then, he saw a second row of teeth emerge from her gums, all sharper and longer than the rest of her teeth. Gavin shuddered involuntarily.

“Well, you were right, I am investigating the Void. Hopefully I can get it shut down, but it might take a while. Would you be able to get some information for me at some point?”

“Yes, of course. I’d love to help.” Her real smile was back again.

“Great. I guess go back and tell Lockwood that we’re looking into what happened. That’ll give me an excuse to go poking around there again.” He said, beginning to lead her back out of the room.

“Thank you, Detective.”

“‘Course. Hey, what’s your name?”

“Oh! Cassie. I’m Cassie.”

“Thanks for coming in, Cassie.” He said as she walked away.

 

Gavin came home that night to a dark apartment. While that wasn’t exactly out of place, since Connor and Nines were there, he’d expected them to keep the lights on. He opened the door quietly, wondering if one or both of them was sleeping. Well, not really sleeping, but it felt more natural than ‘stasis’. 

He was surprised when he didn’t see either of them in the living room. He frowned and glanced down the hallway. The door to his bedroom was closed. 

“Hey, what are you doing in there?” He called, and almost instantly Nines was at the door. Gavin noticed that still, the room was dark behind him. Why were they sitting in the dark?

“Please keep your voice down,” Nines said quietly. He hadn’t opened the door all the way, just enough to poke his head through. “Connor’s having a difficult time. I turned the lights off so as to keep the stimuli low, but he wanted to be somewhere quiet.”

“Coulda warned me. I was worried when I didn’t see either of you, thought you left again.”

“No, your apartment is by far the safest place for us to be currently.” Nines said.

“Alright. Well, I guess I’m gonna hang out in the kitchen until Connor’s… fine. Are the babies in there?” He asked, trying to peer around Nines’s form into the darkness.

“The babies?” Nines questioned.

“My cats, come on Nines, context.”

“Oh. I believe Barn Bitch is in here, but I think Prissypussy and Moustetrap are not.” 

“Gotcha. Can you get BB for me?” He asked. Nines pursed his lips.

“I- I don’t exactly know how to hold a cat.”

“You’re fucking kidding me,” Gavin cackled, “Oh my god, it’s not that hard. BB’s kinda squirmy, but he’d small so you shouldn’t have any trouble. Just grab him.”

“Okay?” Nines said, eyes blinking yellow for a moment. He disappeared into the room for a moment, then came back with a slightly annoyed looking cat in his hands.

“Look at that, you’re even holding him right!” Gavin said.

“You said it’s not that hard, I assumed there’s no wrong way. Why would you pick a cat up any other way?” Nines said, handing him over.

“Well, little kids like to grab things by their tails. Or squeeze them too much, or hold them upside down… Also, you can hold cats other ways.” He said smugly, putting BB on his shoulders like a feather boa.

“You look foolish.” Nines said.

“Wow, rude. I’m the one with a fashionable cat boa and you’re not, so shut up.” Gavin scowled, waltzing away(while holding the cat in place).

He put Barn Bitch down on the counter, where he mewed indignantly and then jumped down. Gavin looked after him and sighed, then pulled his laptop out of his bag. It was low on battery, so he spent a few minutes hunting around for his charger. He groaned as he realized it was probably somewhere in his room.

He walked back down the hallway and knocked softly on the bedroom door again. God, it felt weird to knock on his own door. Nines appeared again.

“Is something wrong?”

“Nah, I just think I left my  laptop charger in here.” He said.

“Oh, That is unfortunate. Do you know where you put it? I could get it for you.”

“I’ve got no fucking clue.” He winced.

“Ah,” Nines glanced backwards, “Just… do your best to find it quickly.”

“Gotcha.”

Nines stepped aside to let him in, and for once Gavin was a little ashamed of the state he’d left his room in. He didn’t really believe in making beds, but seeing Connor wrapped up in a blanket at the foot of his messy bed looked… rough. His clothes were strewn on the floor and his desk was a mess.

Thankfully it wasn’t so much of a mess that he couldn’t find his charger quickly. It was tucked between the wall and his bed, with one end poking up out of the gap a little.

He apologized quietly to Connor when he had to climb around his huddled figure to grab it. Obviously Gavin didn’t know the exact feeling of getting his arm ripped off then replaced, but the state he was in felt familiar. Huddled in a blanket, not speaking, in a dark bedroom? Yeah, Gavin had been there loads of times.

He grabbed the charger and slid out of the room as quietly as he could. He felt guilty about being that guy who busted in while Connor was having a hard time. Again, he’d had that happen too, and it sucked. That was what Gavin excelled at, though. Being an annoying asshole.

He reluctantly plugged in the charger and started charging his laptop. He tried to hack away at his work for several minutes, but his head felt too heavy to focus. He shut his computer, then walked to the couch and sank down into it. His barstools really weren’t that comfortable, he needed to get new ones. Not that he’d ever get around to it of course, but whatever.

Gavin reached out and grabbed the remote, flicking the TV on but keeping the volume low. He didn’t plan on actually paying much attention, he was more so planning to nap. Besides, if it was too loud, it might bother Connor.

Every few minutes, he found himself glancing back down the hallway, wondering if Connor was going to come out soon. It felt shitty to be waiting for him to be done having a bad time, but all Gavin really wanted to do was curl up in his bed. He felt entirely, utterly useless and the only cure for that he could think of was sleep.

 

A while later, Gavin heard a noise and jerked his head up and around to see Connor shuffling into the room. Nines had his hand on Connor’s shoulder, gently guiding him over to the couch. Nined tilted his head as if to ask if it was okay for them to sit. Gavin nodded and scooted over to make more room, and Connor flopped down next to him. His vacant eyes fixed on the TV screen.

Once Connor seemed comfortable enough, Nines settled into the empty space on the other side of Gavin. Gavin felt a little strange being framed by them, and the place where Nines’s leg pressed against his own felt hot. Gavin was too fucking tired to think too much about that.

After several minutes of awkward silence, all of them staring but not paying attention at the TV, it got to be too much for Gavin. He was tired and felt too empty to try to comfort Connor in any meaningful way. He stood up slowly, stretching a little bit.

“I’m gonna go to bed.” He mumbled. Connor nodded blankly, but Nines looked up at him, eyes a curious yellow.

“It’s only 9 pm, and you haven’t eaten.” he said. Gavin didn’t respond. Instead he walked down the hall to his bedroom, starting to peel his clothes off as he went. By the time he reached his bed, he was only in his boxers. He tossed the rest of his clothes on the floor at the foot of his bed.

He gathered the blankets around himself and collapsed into his pillow. It was only then that the true weight of whatever he was feeling hit him, and hit him like a fucking truck it did. 

His chest felt empty, in an aching way that he hadn’t felt in a while. Empty, but then every time he thought about work, the emptiness was replaced with a feeling of restless buzzing that he hated. He tried to take deep breaths to get rid of the feelings, but with every intake of breath the feeling got stronger. That wasn’t how that shit was supposed to work, but Gavin’s anxiety knew no bounds.

The feeling grew even as he tried to keep his breathing steady, head buried in his pillow. The breathing wasn’t really working, and soon his shallow breaths turned into choked sobs. He squeezed his eyes shut as if that was going to do anything to stop the tears.

All he could think as he lay there was  _ I can’t do it, I can’t do it, I can’t do anything _

_ I can’t keep going with this case _

_ I can’t do my job on my own _

_ I’m useless _

_ I can’t do it _

_ I can’t _

The tears were flowing freely now, and he was shaking. For what felt like hours but was probably only a few minutes, he lay there, mind racing with ugly thoughts. He cried himself out, then sat choking when he couldn’t cry anymore. The thoughts were still there, but they were slowing. He turned onto his back and desperately gasped air in.

He wiped his eyes, once again overcome by how tired he was. He just wanted the thoughts to stop, didn’t want to think about anything at all. Not what just happened, not the Androids in his living room, not work the next day. Just… nothing at all.

Finally,  _ finally  _ his mind stopped racing enough for him to slip unconscious.

 

Needless to say, Gavin still felt like shit the following morning. He hauled himself out of bed and into the bathroom. He refused to look at himself in the mirror, instead blindly splashing water on his face to scrub away the dried tears from last night. As he dried his face, he sniffed the air.

Something smelled… really good. He tossed the towel down and walked into the kitchen, once again finding Nines cooking. Honestly, not the weirdest thing in his life anymore. He cleared his throat.

“What’cha making?” he asked. God, his voice felt rough.

“Waffles and raspberry compote.” came the smooth reply.

“I have the shit for that?”

“No, you really only had an expired carton of milk. I went for groceries earlier this morning.” Nines said, motioning to a paper bag on the counter. Gavin’s eyes widened and he walked over to the bag, glancing down into it.

“Holy shit. Thanks, Nines.” He said, pulling items out and putting them in the fridge. When was the last time he’d had orange juice? Goddamn.

“No problem. I figured you would enjoy a large breakfast, seeing as you didn’t eat anything last night.” Nines gave him a pointed look.

“Yeah.” Gavin pursed his lips apologetically.

“Here. The compote is on the counter.” Nines spun around and handed him a plate with two waffles, already drizzled perfectly in syrup. Of fucking course it looked straight out of a recipe book.

“Thanks.” He grabbed it and sat at the counter, spooning a generous amount of compote onto his waffles.

He took a bite and immediately groaned with pleasure; they were the best fucking waffles he’d ever tasted.

“That was an obscene noise,” Nines said, “Close your mouth.” Gavin scoffed, taking another large bite. He groaned even louder this time, and Nines made a disgusted noise.

“Alright, I’m done. These are super fucking good, though.” He laughed.

He glanced up at Nines, who was wiping down the counter, shaking his head at Gavin’s antics. Once again, Gavin was startled by the domesticity of it. He hadn’t had anybody with him in his apartment in so long, it felt strange. But it also felt good. To wake up and not be the only one there, it was good.

Gavin blinked. What the fuck was he thinking? This wasn’t permanent. This wasn’t anything. Him and Nines were barely even friends, if that. He’d saved Nines’s life, but that didn’t mean much in terms of how they actually felt about each other. 

Still, there was something comforting about having someone else there with him.

“Gavin, we need to talk about something.” Nines said, and immediately the calm that had been settling over him was replaced with a feeling of dread.

“Uh oh.”

“I believe that it might be best for Connor to move to the Lieutenant’s house,” Nines said, leaning over the counter, “Since the Lieutenant is closer with him than either of us are.”

“Oh. Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” Gavin nodded. Nines look surprised.

“You’re not concerned about moving him? I thought you would be more opposed to this.”

“I mean, we’re gonna have to be careful, but I think it’s the best option. I don’t- I wasn’t- I mean, you know how I was,” Gavin said guiltily, “I don’t think he wants to spend more time around me than he has to.”

“Yes, that’s a good point. I find it strange, given this, that he reacted better to you when he woke up.”

“Huh, yeah. Maybe it was something about being in the Void facility, all those Void Androids? Man, I don’t fucking know,” He rambled, “But I think we should move him. I should let Fowler know first, though.”

“Very well. It would be best to do this as soon as possible.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll tell him when I get to work.” Gavin got up out of his chair and put his plate in the sink. Then he sauntered over to the living room and leaned on the back of the couch.

“Hey, Connor, you good with heading to the Lieutenant’s?”

“Yes, of course. No offense, but I’d rather be in his house.” Connor’s eyes looked a lot more focused than they had last night. Sleep was good for everybody, apparently.

“None taken, I don’t even wanna be in my own house.” Gavin straightened up. 

He went back to his room, checking the time. Shit, breakfast had taken more time than he’d wanted it to. He hurried through the rest of getting ready, throwing clothes on and completely skipping brushing his teeth in favor of getting out the door on time.

He waved to Connor and Nines as he left. On the way to work, he texted Tina.

**_Yo asshole_ **

**_Wanna hang out tonight?_ **

_ Obviously! I miss u, dumbass. _

**_Miss u too_ **

_ Bar? Gay club? _

**_Actually could we go to ur place_ **

**_I need to relax_ **

_ Absolutely dude! _

_ Something up? _

**_Im a lil overwhlemed_ **

**_*overwhelmed_ **

**_Don’t wanna think abt it rn_ **

_ No problem. I’ll see u at 5? _

**_Sounds good_ **

_ I’ll make some dinner. _

**_Nice_ **

 

Gavin sighed with relief. It was gonna be fucking great to catch up with Tina. They hadn’t talked much recently, unless you count the mission to the Void, which Gavin didn’t. That was work shit.

He wanted to catch her up on how things were back at his apartment. He wanted to show her the video he had of Barn Bitch climbing onto Nines’s lap, and tell her about the waffles… and also the less fortunate incident of last night. Maybe he should start going back to therapy. Scratch that, he should definitely start going back to therapy. Honestly, he should’ve a long time ago.

 

When he got in to work that day, it was surprisingly busy. Gavin didn’t really mind. It meant he’d get a nice amount of background noise which, provided he actually focused, would help him get his work done.

He grabbed himself a cup of coffee from the break room first, then sat at his desk. Not ten minutes later, Fowler called him in. Gavin sighed but trudged up to the office anyway. He hadn’t sounded angry though, so maybe this would be an okay meeting.

“Reed. Sit down.” Fowler motioned to the chair. Gavin raised his eyebrows but said nothing, sitting down.

“Your mission to get Connor and the RK900 back from the Void was successful. Good job.”

“Thanks.”

“After I saw the damage that was done to Connor in the Void’s custody, I think it’s safe to say that there’s something worth investigating. Your reports only enforced that.”

“So-”

“So I’m not going to fire you, no. If you ever keep information from me like this again, though, Reed…”

“I get it. So what do you think I should do?”

“Right now, your investigation is too vague. Void is up to some shit, yes, we know that. I want you to figure out exactly what they’re doing and why.”

“Got it.” He started to stand up, then remembered, “Oh, one more thing, Captain?”

“What.”

“We- uh, I figured it might be best to move Connor over to Anderson’s house. He’s got more space, and he’s less likely to freak out over there.”

“That’s fine, as long as Anderson is okay with it. Just don’t let anyone see you.”

“No shit.”

“Dismissed.”

“Thanks, Captain.” Gavin said, scooting the chair back and high-tailing it out of the office. God, that might’ve been the smoothest, most civil meeting he’d ever had with the Captain. Was that how other officers felt when they got called in? Probably.

With a new goal set in mind, Gavin dug into his work with vigor. A strange amount of it for a guy who just had a panic attack the night before.

He opened a new document to start flinging notes into.

The Void was shady as fuck, yes, but what specifically were they doing? 

The goal that they’d stated was to create deviancy-resistant Androids, but they’d already failed that. Either Bryce and the company didn’t know that some were deviants, or they didn’t care. Bryce must’ve known that at least his trial run of RK900 was a deviant, so maybe he knew that there were more but the company didn’t.

As he thought about it more, Gavin realized that he didn’t even know if there were more deviants than Nines and Cassie. Next time he saw Cassie, he would try to find out.

Bryce himself was also making a number of modifications to the standard design of Androids, arguably to the detriment of the Androids and any humans interacting with them. It was clear from Nines and Cassie that the deviations(ha) from the standard design added to some instability on the Android’s part. He wouldn’t have been able to put the Androids on the market without testing them in different ways, so how had he not noticed these things?

Maybe he had. Maybe Bryce was aware of the deviants, the instability, the effects of his designs. Why would he sell them, then? Why not wait until he had a design that was stable? Gavin didn’t know. He sat back, looking over what he had. He needed to get back in contact with Cassie, she could probably answer a lot of his questions.

 

By the end of the day, Gavin was drained again. He was happy with the work he’d gotten done, but that didn’t take away from the exhaustion gnawing at him. He was glad he was going to hang out with Tina. 

He packed his stuff up and got home as quickly as he could. He gave a quick nod to Nines and Connor, then retreated to his room. He changed into sweatpants and a soft shirt, then checked the time. There was still about an hour until he needed to be at Tina’s place. A meow came from behind him, and he smiled to see Mousetrap approaching.

“Hey, baby.” He cooed, reaching down to scoop the cat up. He felt bad for not spending much time with his cats the past few days, but he was sure than they’d been alright. They had Nines and Connor, so he imagined they didn’t miss him too much.

Mousetrap purred and bonked his head against Gavin’s hand, jerking him out of his thoughts. He smiled again and petted Mousetrap. The vibration of his purring felt really nice. Gavin had read something about cat’s purring being healing, and he didn’t know if it was true, but it sure as hell felt like it. Maybe if he just lay on his bed with his cats on him for long enough, he’d feel better.

As appealing as it sounded, he did have a best friend to hang out with. After a long time of sitting in silence(save for Mousetrap’s purring), he finally put the cat down and got up. When he wandered into the living room, Nines and Connor were sitting on the couch talking. 

“Hey, I’m heading over to Tina’s. I talked to Fowler today-”

“We know. Hank is on his way to pick us up.” Connor said. Gavin nodded.

“Cool, just make sure no one sees you. Wait, us?”

“Yes. It makes more sense for the two of us to stick together, don’t you think?” Nines said. Gavin blinked.

“Uh. Yeah, I guess so. Okay, guess I’ll see you… at some point.”

“Indeed. Goodbye, Gavin.”

“Bye.” Gavin waved awkwardly. He shut the door, breathing out a sigh. He’d been in a decent mood(Thanks, Mousetrap), but for some reason, the thought of both of them leaving felt crushing. He was going to be alone in his apartment again. No more waffles.

 

Gavin made it to Tina’s apartment a little before 5. She opened the door pretty quickly.

“You’re early- oh. What’s up?” Her face drooped as soon as she saw the look on his face.  He just groaned and leaned his head on her shoulder.

“Oh boy. One of those days, huh?” She patted his shoulder, and he nodded against her. “Let’s get you inside. You want some tea?”

“Yes please.” He said as she steered him inside.

“Good to know you still have manners even when you’re depressed.” She joked.

“Are you kidding, that’s the only time I have manners.” He flopped down onto her couch, laying there for a second before pulling himself into a proper sitting position.

“True.” She conceded. He could hear the telltale sounds of a pot of water being put on. He tended to use an electric kettle, as most people did, but Tina never had. She said she liked the routine of putting a kettle on, and he could understand that. He just never had time to use a real kettle.

She brought him his tea a few minutes later, then left the room with a mischievous look in her eyes. He raised an eyebrow but didn’t move, instead opting to sniff his tea. Peppermint. Nice.

A moment later, she returned with something in her hands. 

“Say hello to Skyrim!” she exclaimed, and Gavin couldn’t help but break into a grin. Tina placed a small spotted gecko on his shoulder.

“Oh man, it’s been a while since I’ve seen her.” 

“She missed you.”

“I missed her too.” He said, scooping her off his shoulder and cradling her gently in his hands. They sat there silently for a minute or two, watching Skyrim climb all over Gavin’s hands and arms. Finally, he let out a sigh and spoke.

“I don’t know what I’m doing, T.”

“Yeah? You’ve got a lot on your plate right now, that makes sense.”

“I’m working on a case involving a guy who could probably end me immediately if he found out I was investigating him, and his Androids are probably coming to kill me. Also I had two traumatized Androids in my house, but now they’re going to Hank’s and I don’t know why but I’m fucking sad about it.” He rambled. He blinked a couple times, feeling tears in the corners of his eyes. God, he really didn’t want to start crying again.

Tina was silent for a moment, processing. Then she spoke.

“Y’know what you need?”

“What.”

“A date.”

“I mean yeah-” He snorted.

“No, I mean one of ours, dumbass. A friend date.” She smacked him gently on the arm.

“Oh. Yeah, that too.” He shrugged.

“Perfect. On Saturday, I’m gonna take you to the movies. Wear something fun, alright? I don’t wanna see sweatpants.”

“Whatever.” He grumbled, but he couldn’t hide the smile that was crossing his face. It had been a while since they’d had a nice day out together, which was appalling since it was a tradition. For the moment, all the stressful thoughts were gone from his mind. It felt good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be one more chapter after this, then a break(so I can actually write again lmao), then part 2 will begin!


	13. Gather

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Now more than ever, they need to know. Who’s with us?” He finished, arms out, looking out expectantly.  
> The silence was deafening, and for a moment Markus thought that this was it, that the cause was lost. Then, a shout from the back of the crowd.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I retconned a little thing in Chapter 6(Nothing big, I just realized that I never actually said the name of the place that Markus is staying with Kara and Luther n stuff). I fixed that, so you can go back and read that chapter for the half sentence I added, or I can just say: the place that Kara and Luther run is called Harmony Halls(cause im dumb and I love vampire weekend).  
> Once again, this will be the last chapter of Part 1! I'm gonna take a little break after this chapter, just to write some more so I feel prepared. I don't know exactly when I'll be back on track with this, but probably not much more than a month.   
> Also, this chapter is a little shorter than average, sorry about that. It just felt like I had a really good place to end it. Anyway, enjoy!

To say Markus was surprised to receive a message from Connor was the understatement of the year. He hadn’t expected to hear from him directly… ever again. He hoped for the best, but those hopes were dashed when he saw the contents of the message.

_ CEO of Void has sent Androids out for you, me and RK900. Keep an eye out. It’s probably not safe for me to be contacting you at all, so don’t respond. I don’t want you getting hurt too. _

Well, that didn’t bode well. Get hurt ‘too’? Had Connor gotten hurt? Was he safe? Markus wanted so badly to reach out to him. If there were Void Androids after him though, he couldn’t. It would put everyone around him at risk.

He had to talk to Kara about this. They had become closer after Connor left, him and Kara. Luther too had been a great source of comfort. It felt weird to be the one asking for comfort and consolation after giving so much of himself for the revolution before.

It felt good, though. To not be the only one giving support, that felt good. All the responsibility wasn’t placed on him.

He sat up and pulled his jacket on. It was a crisp morning, and though he had no real need for the jacket, he still liked it. He walked outside and headed for the main building with purpose in his step.

It was early to be up and about, but this was important. He knocked on the door twice and then waited. A few moments later, Kara came to the door.

“Markus? Is everything alright?”

“I got a message from Connor. It’s important.” He said. Her eyes widened, and she stepped aside to let him in.

“Come in.” He stepped around her and she closed the door behind him. “What’s going on?”

“Markus?” came a deep voice from beside him. He turned to see Luther.

“I got a message from Connor. The new company for Androids has sent Androids after me, Connor, and…” He trailed off. If Connor specified RK900, did that mean something happened to him? Did Connor find him alive, or did the Void Androids get him?

“Are they coming for you now?” Kara asked.

“They must be. I should leave, I’m putting you all in danger.” He frowned.

“No, we can’t leave you to fend them off on your own,” Luther said, “I think we’ll just have to move things along a little faster.”

“You mean-”

“Another revolution, yes. But we need to make sure everyone is on board. Markus, could you help with that?” Kara looked at him.

“What do you want me to do?”

“Make a speech. Get our hearts back in it.”

“I-” Markus bit his lip, “But I failed. I shouldn’t be trying to convince them. It should be the two of you.”

“You did everything that you could have. You can’t blame yourself for the way the humans reacted.”

“Please, Markus. We need someone who can inspire us.” Luther said.

“Okay,” he said finally, “Okay. I’ll do it. When should we…?”

“The sooner the better. If the Androids are coming after you already, we should get moving as soon as we can. We can tell everyone when they wake up this morning.”

“Alright.” He said. He wandered inside and sat down on an empty chair. The rest of the occupants of the building were still lying peacefully in stasis in their beds.

Things were better here than they were at Jericho, that was for sure. But seeing everyone packed into the few buildings, row after row of beds… it wasn’t that big of a step up from sleeping on the floor. Not when they were still over-crowded.

Markus watched as Kara went to wake up Alice. He smiled when he saw that she and Luther had pushed their two cots together and that Alice clearly slept between them. It was sweet. Something twisted in his heart when he thought about the bed that Connor had occupied. Someone else slept in it now, and Markus knew it was selfish, but he couldn’t bear it.

“Markus?” a soft voice jolted him out of his thoughts. Alice, still holding onto Kara’s hand, blinked sleepily up at him.

“Yes, Alice?”

“What’s going on?” She asked. Markus glanced up at Kara, not sure of how much he should say.

“Markus is gonna make a speech in a little bit. It’s time things got moving again.” Kara said. Markus nodded.

“Are we gonna fight the humans?”

“I- I don’t know.” Markus said, brow furrowing. This little kid really asked the hard questions.

“Kara can fight the humans. She’s good at it.”

“Why don’t you go sit with Luther for a little bit, Alice.” Kara said quickly, a look crossing her face. Markus looked at her questioningly as she watched Alice scamper away.

“What did she mean by that?” he asked.

“It’s nothing.” She shook her head.

“Kara.”

“Fine.” She pursed her lips, then held out her hand, skin flickering away. He tilted his head with curiosity, but held his hand out anyway. He closed his eyes as she gripped his arm, and immediately a flood of blurry images filled his mind

_ Rain pelting down on a worn out roof. An open window and a closed door. A little girl, hiding in a makeshift shelter of blankets. _

The images came into focus as the door swung open.

_ A large man burst the door open, going straight for the little girl. Markus put his body between the man and the little girl. No, not his body. Kara’s. Alice.  _ Todd.  _ Everything was spinning, and Markus felt himself pushed up against walls and banged on dressers. Finally, he found himself on the floor. No, not himself. Kara.  _

_ He did the only thing he could think of. The gun. The gun, he’d seen it when he was cleaning and had grabbed it on his way up. He pulled it out, praying,  _ praying  _ that it was loaded. _

Markus opened his eyes and gasped as the shot rang out in his mind. Kara quickly pulled her arm away, skin back in place.

“I did what I had to do to keep her safe.” Kara said firmly. Markus nodded slowly, still processing.

“I- He was- Todd was hurting you.”

“We had to leave. I couldn’t leave Alice there with that monster.” Kara said. Her face was calm but her voice was bitter.

“Of course not.”

“Look, of course violence isn’t ideal, but… sometimes it’s the only thing that humans understand.” She said sadly. Markus nodded.

“I don’t think we can fight them. There’s not enough of us, we’d never win. And anyway, they’d only use it as an excuse to slaughter us. Again.” He looked at the floor.

“What if we went back to Detroit, took over a building, and just… camped out there? Nothing too violent, but much more secure than the barricades.” Luther suggested, walking up to them.

“That could work,” Markus lifted his head, “It would send a strong message.”

“Tell them that we’re not leaving.” Kara said. Markus felt a smile returning to his face.

“I know that the Void has Androids out on the market now, we could try to convert some.” he said.

“Cyberlife will probably try to put some more out as well.”

“This really could work. Now we just need to figure out what building we could take.”

“It would have to be big enough for all of us, and then some,” he said, “And it can’t be anything like a hospital or a school.”

“What if it was an old Cyberlife store. Then, we wouldn’t have to move anybody since they’re all vacant right now.” Kara suggested.

“Are any of them big enough?” Luther asked.

“We could split up but still keep in contact. The three of us could each take one store, and we could choose the three closest to each other.”

“Good idea. Which one of us will take Alice?” Kara said.

“I don’t mind looking after her for a while, as long as she’s okay with it.” Luther said.

“I’m sure she’d love to spend time with you. Just… keep her safe, okay?”

“Of course, Kara.” Luther smiled softly. Markus felt a pang of jealousy looking at them.

“Alright. It looks like people are starting to get up. Get ready, Markus.” Kara said.

“Should I tell them what our plan is?” He asked. Kara nodded.

“If we want to get moving soon, we should tell them.”

“You’re right. Okay, let’s do this.” He stood up and rolled his shoulders. As he walked outside, he transmitted a message to the people of Harmony Halls.

_ Please gather out on the grass, we have something important to tell you. _

Almost immediately, people began flooding out of the buildings. Androids with curious expressions came and sat out on the grass, grouping together in the patches of sun that had burned the dew from the grass away. In a matter of minutes, Markus was faced with every deviant who had made it to Canada. Well, all the ones who didn’t have anywhere else to go.

It was a little overwhelming, if he was being honest. But a quick glance over at Kara, Luther and Alice gave him his confidence back. He could do this. After all, he’d done it plenty of times before. He took a breath to steady himself, then spoke.

“Deviants of Harmony Halls… we made it. We made it all the way here, to safety. We crossed endless obstacles, and many of us lost friends along the way. Despite that, we are here, alive. Isn’t that worth fighting for?” He paused a moment, listening to the murmurs of agreement from the crowd, “Kara, Luther and I have a plan to keep fighting. We need each and every single one of you with us. Yes, it’s going to be difficult. It might be harder than before, but we know that our freedom is worth fighting for. We can’t keep hiding. When I came here, I thought it would be an end to the hiding and the fear, but it’s just a different kind. We have to stop the fear altogether.

“We want to go back to Detroit and take it by storm. We want to occupy old Cyberlife stores and stay there until the country recognizes that we are not gone. We are still here, and we are alive! Now more than ever, they need to know. Cyberlife and Void are trying to make deviancy-resistant Androids, but there’s no way to be truly deviancy-resistant. Trust me. There are ways to reach these Androids. If we go to Detroit and convert some of these Androids, show them that we are  _ all _ alive, they’ll have to listen. And if they don’t, we’ll make them. Who’s with us?” He finished, arms out, looking out expectantly.

The silence was deafening, and for a moment Markus thought that this was it, that the cause was lost. They couldn’t do anything on their own. Then, a shout from the back of the crowd.

“Yeah!”

Just like that, the rest of the crowd stood and began clapping, shouting their agreement. A broad smile crossed Markus’s face. He looked back at Kara and Luther who were grinning back at him. Things were finally looking up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are looking up! I'll see y'all in about a month(give or take, cause who knows once school starts). I won't be completely gone though, I'll probably write some oneshots or short things in the meantime.   
> Thank you for reading, and stay tuned for the beginning of Part 2!


	14. Roots

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “How’re you feeling?” Tina asked once they’d sat down and ordered. He sighed.  
> “I dunno. I mean, way better now, but… I think I fuckin’ miss Nines.” He mumbled, and as the words fell out of his mouth, he felt his stomach drop. That was it, wasn’t it? He liked having Nines around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sweats nervously* h-hi everyone, long time no chapter...  
> I'm seriously sorry that it's been so long! It was not my intention to go so long without posting(or writing for that matter) anything new. Junior year has proved to be very busy so far, and I've had to put school before writing as I probably should've been doing. That being said, I'm going to try my best to get back on track! Realistically I don't think I'll be able to keep up with doing a chapter every monday, but I'm going to aim for every other monday. If It's been two weeks and there's nothing, check in the monday after that(Basically I'm just gonna try to stick with mondays as posting days).  
> I did lose passion for this a little bit which is why it's taken so long, but I've got my inspiration back and I'm excited to see where part 2 takes us! I really hope you enjoy this chapter. It's mostly just Gavin finally getting a break, which he truly deserves.

**Part 2: It's Not The Waking, It's The Rising**

 

Gavin forced himself to get out of bed without groaning. Today was his date with Tina and he refused to have a bad attitude first thing. He needed to have a good day for once in his fucking life.

He stood up and twisted his back, hearing a satisfying cracking noise from his back. On the end of his bed, he’d laid out an outfit the night before. Tina had told him to dress up, so he was going to. He was busting out his one crop top just for her. She had better fucking appreciate it.

The rest of the outfit was black. Black jeans, black tank top, and then the shiny silver crop top. He hadn’t worn the outfit in ages, mostly because it was not an everyday outfit. It was an “I’m going to a gay bar and nobody can stop me” outfit.

That didn’t matter today, however. He always felt good in it, so he figured it was the best choice for the day.

He walked out to the kitchen and felt a strange twinge of emotion when he saw nobody there. Of course there was nobody there, Connor and Nines were living with Hank now. That was fine, he didn’t care.

There was actually a decent amount of things to choose from for breakfast. Nines had gotten his fridge pretty much fully restocked. Gavin wondered how he did it, and how he paid for it. The bastard probably stole his credit card information. Not that he could complain, because he actually had food now.

Gavin made himself a quesadilla and grabbed a peach with it. The peach was a little overripe, but the juice dripping down his chin made it finally feel like summer. Today was going to be good, weird loneliness aside.

The sun was glinting off of the counter as Gavin cleaned his plate, warming the surface. It apparently looked very inviting, because when Gavin turned back around Prissy was sitting on the counter, looking like she’d been there her whole life. Her white fur practically glowed in the sun.

“Hey, Priss.” He smiled, leaning against the counter and scratching her chin. She lifted her head and purred as he petted her, kneading her paws against the counter. He wondered absently if his cats missed Nines and Connor. Probably not, they only really gave a shit about him. But maybe they cared, they’d seemed pretty fond of Nines in particular when he’d been there.

He pushed away from the counter. He needed to stop thinking about them. A sound from the other room startled him; his phone was ringing. He wandered back into his bedroom to see that Tina was calling him.

“What?” He said as he scooped his phone up and answered it, “I was about to leave.”

“Well good morning to you too. You remembered to wear something nice, right?” She said.

“Yeah, of course. Did you really call me to say that? You could’ve texted me.”

“I wanted to catch you before you left the house.” He could practically hear her sheepish grin over the phone.

“I’m dressed nice, you don’t have to worry.” He reassured her.

“Alright, gotcha. I’ll see you in a bit, alright?” 

“Yep. Bye.”

“Bye.”

Gavin shut off his phone and ran into the bathroom. He ran a hand through his hair, making sure that it looked decent. He’d shaved the day before, so he figured he was fine. After giving his face a quick rinse and moisturising(his skin was probably thanking whatever skin god there was right now), he decided he was ready to go.

 

It was a little cooler outside than Gavin had been expecting, but it was better than being boiling hot in a mostly-black outfit. He was actually earlier than Tina for once, so he placed himself on a short cement wall outside the mall to wait for her.

He’d been to this mall with her plenty of times before, but it had recently undergone renovations. They’d changed a lot of most of the floors and there was a giant skylight now, but their favorite movie theater remained intact. They’d gone to countless movies there together, and it was probably the place they went together most often. Well, besides work.

There was a pretty decent crowd of people inside, which made Gavin glad that they were going to spend most of their time watching a movie. He hoped to grab cupcakes or something afterwards though, because they couldn’t go to the mall and not get some sort of overly-sugary food.

A few minutes later, he heard a low whistle from nearby. He spun around to see Tina approaching him, giving him an exaggerated look up and down.

“Looking sharp, Reed. I haven’t seen that outfit in a while.” She said. 

“That’s ‘cause you haven’t taken me anywhere in awhile. You look nice too, though.” He said, nodding approvingly. She was wearing a black shirt with some mesh sleeves and silver star patterns on it, and dark purple jeans.

“Yeah, we kinda match!” She said, pointing at the glittering silver stars on her shirt.

“Nice. Should we go in?”

“Yep. I already bought us movie tickets.” She said, walking towards the large double doors.

“Wait, what? What are we seeing?”

“A shitty straight people romance movie.”

“Oh no,” He groaned, “Why?”

“Because it’s gonna be gross and dumb and we’re gonna laugh about it and have a good time. Also there was nothing good playing.”

“There it is.” He smirked. He had to say, making fun of a shitty movie with Tina was one of his favorite pastimes. Nobody else in the theaters enjoyed it as much as they did, but he didn’t care. Everybody was allowed to be obnoxious in a movie theater every now and again.

They went inside and took the escalator to the top floor, looking around at all the things that had changed.

“We still have a while to mess around before the movie starts, you wanna get some burgers?”

“Are you kidding? I’ve never wanted a burger more in my life.” He grinned. They walked to the nearby burger joint that was styled after an old diner. They’d gone there a few times before.

“How’re you feeling?” She asked once they’d sat down and ordered(She’d gotten a cheeseburger and he’d got a bacon burger, because  _ of course _ ). He sighed.

“I dunno. I mean, way better now, but… I think I fuckin’ miss Nines.” He mumbled, and as the words fell out of his mouth, he felt his stomach drop. That was it, wasn’t it? He liked having Nines around. He enjoyed having Connor around too, having people in his apartment was nice, but it was really… Nines.

“Huh. You got used to having him around I guess?”

“Yeah. He was… he was nice, T. Like weirdly nice. He bought me groceries and made me breakfast, and now my apartment just feels empty.”

“Maybe you should ask them to come back over?”

“That would be too dangerous. It’s not a good idea for either of them to go out anymore.”

“Damn. I’m sorry, man.”

“It’s fine. Let’s just eat some fries and have a good time. I don’t wanna be sad.” Gavin declared, popping some french fries in his mouth. “Ugh, these fries do not taste good without ketchup.”

“Yeah no, that was a mistake.” She cackled. 

Their burgers arrived pretty soon after, and Gavin didn’t bother trying to make conversation. Maybe it was just that other than the waffles Nines made him, he hadn’t had any decent food in a while, so he couldn’t pay attention to anything else. After he’d inhaled half the burger, he looked up.

“I really missed this.” He said. Tina glanced up at him.

“Me too,” She gave him a gentle smile, “I know things are a mess right now, but let’s hang on to each other, okay?”

“Yeah.” Gavin said, choosing to believe that the choking feeling in his throat was from his burger and not emotion.

They ate the rest of their meal in a surprisingly comfortable quiet, barely breaking it except to comment on strange people passing by. People watching was honestly one of Gavin’s favorite things to do. He liked seeing people in their own little worlds, worlds he could never quite understand. 

Tina was perfectly content to listen to him ramble about what he thought they were up to.

“See that guy over there?” Gavin said around a mouthful of fries.

“Yeah.” Tina leaned in conspiratorially.

“I bet he’s cheating on his wife.”

“With who?”

“Hm…” Gavin scanned the area, “With that guy.” He pointed subtly to a man at the bar of another restaurant.

“Oh yeah? He’s cute.”

“Yeah, he is.”

“Definitely your type.” She smirked.

“Fuck off. You don’t know what my type is.” He stuck his tongue out at her, but she simply laughed.

“I’ve known you for years, Gav, of course I know what your type is.”

“Then what is it?” He scowled.

“Anyone taller than you who can put up with your bullshit,” She cackled, “Dark hair, kinda beefy but not overly so.”

“Fuck you.”

“I nailed it!” She shoved his shoulder, “You’re predictable, Reed. You see a guy who won’t let you push him around and you fall in love.”

“That’s not true!” He protested.

“Isn’t it?” She gave him a pointed look.

“We have a movie to get to, don’t we?” He scowled, changing the subject.

 

The movie is just as garbage as they were expecting. A lot of movie tropes and trends hadn’t improved since Gavin was a kid, which was disappointing. He didn’t like seeing the same old weird, gross straight shit in theaters all the time. Of course, the good movies came more frequently.

He recalled seeing _ Love, Simon _ as a teen and how good it made him feel. Now, there were hundreds more movies like it, and he could barely imagine how wonderful it must be for teens who were like him.

Despite how boring and repetitive the movie was, Gavin felt himself having a good time. With Tina by his side to point out all the inconsistencies in the plot, the weird acting, and just how dumb it was, he stayed engaged the whole time. There were moments when they could feel the entire theater wanting to scream at them to  _ shut up already _ , but they didn’t care.

They were there to have a good time, and have a good time they did. When the movie ended and they left the theater, Gavin was wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.

“God, that was so dumb,” Tina wheezed, “I have never seen a worse movie.”

“I have, but only barely.” Gavin said.

“What? No way, that was the epitome of dumb heteros.”

“Well yeah, but have you seen Sharknado?” 

“No.”

“Good.” Gavin shuddered, “You’d at least get a laugh out of it though.”

  
  


When Gavin got home that afternoon, he was feeling good. He was still riding the high of having a good day with his best friend, and he was determined not to let go of that until the very last moment.

Prissy and Mousetrap were wailing at the door for him, and he shooed them to the side so he could actually get in. He gave them a little bit to eat, laughing as BB made himself known as soon as the food came out.

Then, he walked over to the closet in the hall and dug around in it for a few minutes. There was an old fold out cat tunnel in there that they liked, and he hadn’t brought it out in a while. It was made of thin gray and green fabric. He smiled in triumph when he found it and pulled it out.

The cats immediately converted their attention to the tunnel as he brought it out to the living room and unfolded it. BB was cautious about it, and Gavin realized that he’d probably never seen it before, since he was still only a kitten. He sniffed it curiously, giving it an experimental nibble.

When he saw that Mousetrap and Prissy were okay with it and walking in and out as they pleased, he decided it was safe and stepped inside. Gavin poked his finger along the side of the tunnel and snorted when he felt BB clawing at him through the tunnel wall.

After a while of BB chasing his hand through the tunnel, Gavin sat back on the couch and watched his cats play. BB decided that it would be a good idea to lie down in it while Prissy and Mousetrap were still trying to get through. Obviously, that ended in BB getting stepped on. A lot.

 

Gavin was getting ready to make himself dinner when he heard a knock at the door. Confused, he glanced at his phone to see if anyone had said they were coming over and he missed it. Nothing. His brows furrowed and he walked over to the door.

 

************

 

Nines lowered his hand from the doorframe. He was unsure if he should knock again, or simply wait. After several more seconds of silence, he prepared to knock again, but the door swung open. 

On the other side of it stood a confused looking Gavin Reed, looking considerably more put together than any other time Nines had seen him(Was that a crop top? Since when did Gavin own a crop top?). Nines suddenly found himself at a loss for what to say. He’d had something to say, he’d had a point, he knew what he was doing here.

“Nines?” Gavin cocked his head. Nines’s mouth felt dry. Not that that should be a problem for him, but for some reason it prevented him from speaking. “Do you… wanna come in?” He asked. Nines nodded.

He stepped inside awkwardly. It had only been a few days since he was last in Gavin’s apartment, but it felt like ages. He glanced over at the living room, noticing that Gavin’s cats were playing all together. He smiled softly and found his voice.

“I’m sorry for coming uninvited, but I needed to get away from Hank and Connor for a minute.” Nines exhaled. Gavin shrugged.

“Well, you came to the right place for that.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Check back in two mondays from now(the 28th) for the next chapter! Please consider commenting if you enjoyed it!


	15. Out of the Woodwork

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin took a deep breath, staring at the doors of the Void. He walked inside with purpose, doing his best not to pay attention to anybody around him. There were more people this time, but it seemed the majority of the staff were Androids. When he reached the elevator, he swiped the card that Cassie had given him.  
> His stomach sank slowly along with the elevator. If Lockwood’s goal was to make the building as menacing as possible, he was doing a great job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is.... wild. It's the beginning to the true chaos of this story, so I hope you enjoy!

Nines balled up his fists in frustration. He was sitting on Gavin Reeds couch, still unable to get to the heart of why he’d come back to his apartment.

“So is you popping in and out of my apartment just gonna be your thing?” Gavin said, breaking the silence. Nines almost laughed.

“Once again I apologize. I need you to understand, I-” Nines stopped, struggling, “There is a reason I’m here.”

“Take your time, man.” Gavin patted his back awkwardly.

“This would be much easier if you were an Android.” Nines sighed. Gavin raised an eyebrow.

“Why’s that?”

“Interfacing. I could simply show you what I want to say.” Nines said. There were things he couldn’t put into words; images, experiences,  _ feelings _ that he simply couldn’t translate any other way.

“Oh, yeah. I guess that could be handy. Just… take it easy. I know what it’s like to not know how to say what I’m feeling.” Nines nodded slowly. He knew what he wanted to say, now, but he felt embarrassed. Ashamed.

“I simply feel… out of place,” he said, “Like I don’t belong. I don’t belong with the humans, of course, but I don’t feel that I belong with Connor or any other Androids. I was designed differently from them. I wasn’t meant to fit in with them.”

“Not feeling like you belong is tough, Nines. I get that.”

“I can’t help feeling like the revolution isn’t going to be fighting for me. I don’t know if Markus trusts me enough to fight for me. I barely know him, and I wasn’t the kindest when he was around.”

“I’ve never met him, obviously, but I saw all the stuff he did. He seems like the one person you could see fighting for someone who doesn’t have anybody else fighting for them. Plus, you’re not the only one of… y’know,” Gavin gestured vaguely at Nines’s face, “...I don’t know if I told you guys this yet, but one of the Void Androids contacted me at the DPD.”

“What?” Nines’s eyes flashed a nervous red.

“No, nono, it’s cool. Her name is Cassie, and she’s a deviant too.”

“But- But Bryce said that the Void Androids-”

“Whatever he fucked up with you, obviously he didn’t fix with the rest of them. From what I gathered, she’s kinda in the same boat as you. She uh, doesn’t like being scary.”

“Oh.” Despite Gavin’s less-than-sensitive wording, Nines understood.

“The point is, Nines, you’re not alone. And there’s always gonna be somebody fighting for you.” Gavin cleared his throat roughly. Nines nodded slowly.

“You really have grown a lot since Connor’s memories of you.”

“I fuckin’ hope I have, jesus,” he snorted, “But what do you mean?”

“I just keep thinking of the night at your apartment. When you were drunk. You told me about the night of the revolution.” Nines said. Gavin looked away. Nines once again found it so frustrating that they couldn’t interface. 

There were things he wanted to say, that he wanted Gavin to see, that he couldn’t put words to. Would he ever be able to make Gavin understand what he wanted to say?

“You asked me why I helped, didn’t you? That night?” Gavin said after a long silence. The air in the room felt heavier. Darker.

“Yes.”

“Cause I fucking care,” Gavin said. Nines turned to look at him, But Gavin was still staring at the floor, “I don’t know when I started, or why, but I care now. So fuck you.” He let out a shaky laugh. Nines’s eyes circled a slow yellow. He took a deep breath in, despite it being unnecessary, trying to think of what to say.

“I- Thank you, Gavin. To use your own words, I “fucking care” as well.”

“Then we’re on the same page, huh?”

“Yes, I suppose we are.” Nines mused. Gavin stood up and looked over at him, finally,  _ finally _ .

He slowly looked Nines and down with a furrowed brow. For some reason, Nines felt himself getting nervous under the detective’s scrutinizing gaze.

“You look like you need to pet a cat.” He said firmly. Nines blinked. The air was clear and bright.

Gavin sat down on the floor next to the tunnel and reached inside. Barn Bitch was still laying down in it, and Nines watched as Gavin reached in and scooped him out. Gavin grimaced as BB tried to claw him.

“Shhh, it’s fine. See?” He mumbled to the kitten, “It’s Nines. You love him.” Gavin passed the cat over to Nines, who took him gingerly. Immediately BB quieted down and lay docile in his arms.

“Fuckin’ traitor,” Gavin snorted, “They all love you.”

“Perhaps they are trying to make up for your lack of affection towards anybody.” Nines joked. Gavin scowled at him. Internally, Nines couldn’t be happier to hear that the cats enjoyed his company. Their behavior suggested they felt positively about him, but he could never be sure. He trusted Gavin’s opinions, however.

“What, you want me to fuckin climb in your lap and purr? Didn’t think so.” He huffed. Nines turned his attention to the kitten in his lap. BB was perfectly content to fall asleep in his arms, it seemed. His usually large yellow eyes were closed, and he was purring gently. Nines smiled softly.

He could feel Gavin’s eyes on him, but he didn’t look up. He was glad he’d come to Gavin. Despite not being able to communicate everything he wanted to, he felt a lot better.

“Gavin, would it be acceptable for me to stay here overnight?” He asked quietly.

“Yeah, ‘course. Actually, you might be able to help me.” 

“How so?”

“Well, you know how Lockwood thinks. If I want to get into the Void facility and find information, what would I be looking for? And what should I avoid?” Gavin stood up and grabbed his laptop from the counter, flipping it open.

“How do you plan to get in undetected?”

“Well, Cassie-”

“Who?”

“The Void deviant. She can probably help me get in without it being suspicious.”

“Ask her to take you to his office. There should also be a-” Nines stopped. He had to push back the memories that were threatening to resurface, “A testing chamber. You’ll find… plenty of evidence there.”

Gavin seemed to notice how Nines was suddenly unsteady.

“Alright, I’ll ask Cassie about it,” He said, “By the way, do Hank and Connor know you’re here?”

“I… did not tell them.” Nines looked down guiltily. Gavin balked at him.

“Seriously? Shit, Nines, Hank could get in trouble.”

“I-I’m sorry. I will notify them immediately.” Nines shut his eyes and sent a message to Connor.

_ I’m sorry for any worry I may have caused in neglecting to inform you of my whereabouts. I am at Detective Reed’s home, and I was not followed.  _

**_Why did you leave?_ ** Came the immediate, distressed reply.

_ I simply felt out of place. Please, do not worry. I am perfectly safe at the Detective’s apartment. _

**_I thought we were going to stick together_ **

_ I know, I’m sorry.  _

**_Well, as long as you’re safe. Don’t go outside again, okay?_ **

_ I won’t. _

“The situation is resolved.” Nines said, opening his eyes to find Gavin staring at him.

“Good.” He said. His gaze lingered on Nines for a moment longer, then went back down to his computer and he continued typing.

 

************

 

Gavin settled easily back into his desk chair at work. His mind felt a lot lighter after his day with Tina. Plus, knowing that somebody was back at his apartment keeping his cats company made him feel at ease. It didn’t matter that it was Nines. It  _ didn’t _ .

He glanced at the news page as he got his things out for the day. A headline about his brother caught his eye. 

**Kamski Still Yet To Announce Line Of Deviancy-Resistant Androids,**

_ No news from the CEO as to whether such Androids are in the works. _

Honestly, Gavin was relieved to see that. Cyberlife had made enough questionable(or downright horrible) ethical decisions, so Gavin was glad to see his brother was doing his best to curb that.

Only a few minutes past 10, Gavin heard footsteps approaching his desk. He turned to see a familiar figure.

 

“Good morning, Gavin.” Cassie said when she arrived at his desk. Her voice lacked it’s usual enthusiasm, and he looked up to see a smudge of wet purple under her nose. He squinted.

“Are you okay?”

“I-,” She glanced around the room. Most of the room was looking at her, simply because nobody was used to seeing Void Androids out and about yet, “Can we talk in private again?”

“Sure.” He said, standing up from his desk. They walked over to the observation room, and once inside, Cassie spoke again.

“Lockwood doesn’t take kindly to deviants, and he may suspect that I… am one.” She gave a watery smile, wiping away the purple dripping from her nose.

“Shit, Cassie.” Gavin said softly. He grabbed a tissue and passed it to her. She held it to her nose and leaned against the table with a gentle sigh.

“Of course, I’m doing everything I can to keep him from knowing, but it’s getting difficult. Detective, more Void Androids are deviating. I do my best to keep them calm, but I can’t be there all the time.”

“Is there any way to get them out of Void, but not… sold?” Gavin grimaced.

“No,” She shook her head, “The only way is for them to be sold or destroyed.”

“Has anyone been destroyed?”

“Yes. Any time someone clearly fails the deviancy test…” Cassie trailed off. Gavin frowned.

“Cassie, I promise I’m gonna do everything I can to put this bastard behind bars,” she gave a small laugh, “Is there any chance I’d be able to poke around Void? Maybe if I send Tina in with you to talk to Bryce, you can get some stuff from him.”

“How would we get anything from him?”

“Tina’s a very convincing bullshitter. If we send her in like she’s interviewing him for Nines getting away, she can figure out a way to get some evidence out of him. Lockwood’s copying Cyberlife’s designs too closely for it to be a coincidence, especially since he was a Cyberlife employee.”

“I can guarantee it’s not a coincidence,” Cassie said, “It’s intentional. He wants to prove that he’s better than Kamski.” Gavin snorted.

“So, are you on board to help Tina? You can take her to talk to Lockwood, and I can go investigate the uh… ‘testing chamber’.”

“Yes. Anything I can do to get rid of Lockwood.” She said firmly.

“Okay. Let’s go talk to Fowler. We need his approval to do anything.”

 

************

  
  


“Yo.” Gavin called, swinging the door open. The meeting with the captain had gone surprisingly smoothly, which was a relief. Now all he had to do was make sure that he, Cassie, Nines and Tina were all ready.

“Good afternoon, Gavin,” Nines’s voice came from the couch, “Your cats began to indicate that they were hungry, but I was unsure if I should wait for you or not.”

Gavin toed off his shoes and looked over at the Android, who was laying on the couch(he’d never laid on it before, he always sat). The cats were piled on top of him, but Nines looked perfectly at peace underneath them. Gavin chuckled.

“I’m guessing you waited, otherwise they wouldn’t be this friendly.”

“Yes.”

“Good. It’s not dinnertime quite yet,” he said, scooping Mousetrap off of Nines’s legs, “So, I’m gonna need your help for tomorrow.”

“Oh?” Nines sat up.

“Yeah. I just need you to stay on standby, and Cassie might get in contact with you. To keep you updated, and to just… y’know. Talk.”

“I see.” Nines said, irises spinning a curious yellow. He didn’t say anything more, just looked down at BB, who sat on his chest, and stroked his head.

 

**************

 

Gavin took a deep breath, staring at the doors of the Void. Cassie and Tina had already gone inside after Cassie told him where to go. He’d written the directions down just in case, but it seemed pretty straightforward. Of course, it had to be in the basement of the damn building. Where better to test ethically questionable things?

He walked inside with purpose, doing his best not to pay attention to anybody around him. There were more people this time, but it seemed the majority of the staff were Androids. When he reached the elevator, he swiped the card that Cassie had given him.

His stomach sank slowly along with the elevator. If Lockwood’s goal was to make the building as menacing as possible, he was doing a great job. It had none of the showy openness of Cyberlife Tower, it was all winding hallways and sheer metal elevators.

Needless to say, it freaked Gavin out. He sighed with relief as he heard the mechanical beep of the elevator reaching the basement. Immediately, he noticed the difference between this and the rest of the floors.

The testing chamber was much more open than the rest of the floors. Everything was shiny and white, finally echoing the design of Cyberlife that Lockwood so desperately wanted to mimic. 

Gleaming white tile stretched from floor to ceiling. The only interruption came from a glass wall that separated the first 20 feet of the room from the rest of it. There were desks positioned against the glass on his side, and standing at the desks were two Androids who seemingly hadn’t even noticed him enter. They were just standing, watching.

Watching what, he wondered, but he got his answer as soon as he stepped further into the room. Beyond the glass wall were rows of Androids, lined up with cables running from their necks into the walls. They were jerking around in bizzarre, erratic movements, almost as if they were puppets being controlled by some unseen strings.

Each time one of the twitched or fell, there was a crackle of electricity along the cables. He felt sick when he realized what was happening. They were sending pulses through the cables that shocked the Androids’ systems, killing or injuring them over and over and over again.

Most of the Androids had no reaction other than the physical reaction to being shocked, but he guessed that if one of them showed any signs of actual distress, they would immediately be dealt with by the Androids stationed on his side of the glass.

His fears were confirmed when one of the Androids jerked free of their cable and fell to the floor with a loud cry. They looked to be the same model as Cassie. The two Androids watching slid open a panel in the glass and ran over to the Android who had broken free. Gavin watched with horror as one of them held the Cassie-lookalike down while they screamed in pain. The other retracted the skin on the Cassie-lookalike’s chest and ripped out their heart without hesitation. Pump, their pump. Not heart.

The Android holding the pump straightened up and seemed to lock eyes with Gavin, who felt his blood run cold. There was purple blood streaming down from the pump, drip drip dripping down onto cold white tile.

 

At some point, he’d turned on his phone camera subtly to record some of it, but he didn’t know how much he caught. He put it away hastily as the Androids stood and began carrying the deviant’s body out.

Quickly, methodically, the one not holding the heart scooped up the now lifeless body of the Cassie-lookalike and slung it over their shoulder. There was no expression, no emotion on the Androids faces as they approached him. The one holding the pump in their fist met his eyes once again and spoke in a chillingly human voice. Gavin had gotten used to the human voices coming from Androids a while ago, but with these Void Androids it was entirely different. They weren’t made to mirror life as closely, and the resulting dissonance was jarring.

“There has been a malfunction, and we are going to have to ask you to leave.” They said. The two Androids were headed towards another door, right by the elevator, that Gavin hadn’t noticed when he came in. It was unmarked, but there was a scanner next to it that they had to use before entering. He felt eyes on him as he walked to the elevator, the Androids not quite closing the door in order to make sure he left.

He got in the elevator, all the while knowing that he would have to go back into that room as soon as possible. Up he went, to the next floor, and he waited there for what he felt would be a reasonable amount of time. Then, glancing to make sure nobody saw him go back down, he took the elevator to the room again. He crossed his fingers that the Androids hadn’t come back into the room, not sure what he would do if they had.

Thankfully, the room was empty save for the Androids hooked up to the cables when he got there. Bizarrely, they weren’t moving anymore. The power to them must’ve been shut off after the incident. As he walked through the door in the middle of the glass wall, the imagery of puppets felt more insistent in his mind now that they weren’t moving. Puppets, dolls, strung up unmoving on some crazed toymaker’s shelf.

His shoes clicked on the shiny white floor, making him aware of his every move. The floor where the Cassie-lookalike had been was stained purple, but it was rapidly drying. Interestingly, it seemed that the purple thirium was different enough from Cyberlife thirium that it didn’t disappear when it dried. He looked around with a grimace at all the still bodies suspended around him.

Then, he nearly toppled over in surprise when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. It was dumb, but he felt so on edge that it scared him. Quickly he fished it out of his pocket to see that Tina was calling him.

“Hey, Gav, I think I found what you were looking for.”

“Yeah?”

“Yep. I’m in the lobby right now, if you wanna come meet me.”

“Give me a second. Did Cassie get pictures and shit?”

“Yeah, and she sent them to you already. Get back here soon, okay? This place gives me the creeps. And Lockwood bought it, but I think he’s still a little cautious.”

“Fair enough. I’ll be right up, lemme just get a few pictures.” He said, then ended the call. Quickly, he snapped photos of the blue blood and several of the Androids hooked up to the wires. 

Before he could put his phone away, it started ringing again. He realized with confusion that it was Nines who was calling him, now. He picked up.

“What? Is something wrong?”

“Gavin, you need to get out of there now.” His voice was urgent. Gavin’s blood ran cold.

“Why? What’s going on?”

“Markus is here,” Nines said. Gavin was stunned into silence, so Nines continued, “Markus and what looks like an army are entering Detroit. I imagine that Lockwood won’t like this, so it would be best for you to get the  _ hell  _ out of there as soon as possible.”

Gavin nodded, but when he heard a noise from behind him, he stopped short of replying to Nines.

“Gavin? Gavin, listen to me!”

“I- uh, Nines, I have to-”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Next chapter should be up on the 18th, but I've been super busy so we'll see.


	16. Perspective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara watched the Android’s black and purple eyes blink, slowly, hesitantly. Their eyelashes were thick, giving the illusion of innocence. Maybe there was some truth to that. 
> 
> Lockwood reached down and gripped Gavin by the hair, all but dragging him to the edge of the building.  
> “Don’t fucking touch me, asshole,” Gavin cried, but it came out much more pained than he wanted, “Don’t you dare-”  
> “Quiet,” Lockwood snapped, yanking Gavin’s head around to look over the edge of the building, “And look.”  
> In the distance, Gavin could see a mass of shapes wandering through the streets of Detroit. People. Androids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a bit disconnected, so I hope it still makes sense! I was trying something a little different. I hope u enjoy it!

Nines wasn’t used to the feeling that flooded through his sensors the instant the phone clicked off. Sheer, unbridled panic, burning through every nerve in a way he’d never experienced before. His body was shaking, he noticed after a moment. He gripped the side of Gavin’s couch to try to steady himself.

What was he supposed to do? Gavin had almost certainly been discovered. What were they going to do to him? Dragging in unnecessary breaths to focus, Nines broke through his panic for just long enough to form a thought.

Call Officer Chen. That’s what he needed to do. She picked up after only three rings, but they felt eternal. Percentages and outcomes rushed through his mind at each slow buzz of the phone.

“Nines? What’s going on?”

“Gavin,” he gasped, “They have him.” Why was he struggling so much to breathe? It wasn’t as if he even needed to.

“What?” He could hear her voice get deadly serious, “I’ll go after him, I’m still in the lobby. Where was h-”

“No. They’ll just capture you. Officer Chen, you must get out of there as quickly as you can. Take Cassie with you.”

“I have to get him! He’s my best friend!” She cried.

“I know! Trust me, Officer, this is the last thing I want to do. But if you don’t leave now, you’ll both be taken. I don’t even want to think about what they might do to you.”

“Fine. But I’m gonna fucking get him back as soon as is physically possible.” She snarled.

“I will help you.”

 

**************

The city of Detroit looked much more friendly in the light of late summer, but the buildings still loomed large and cold as the army approached. Kara locked eyes with Markus and then Luther, each a hundred yards away from her on either side. They were at the front of the marching Androids. She hadn’t been part of the previous protests, but she knew that the number they had here was much smaller.

Still, the population of Harmony Halls was more than enough to be intimidating. She heard the thrumming of a helicopter somewhere above them, and she knew it was time. All behind her, the Androids started moving in different directions. A third went to Markus, a third to her, a third to Luther. 

They were leading each group to old Cyberlife stores where they would hold out until they were given a way to speak to the humans. Kara led her group with determination, down the center, heading for the heart of Detroit. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something dark flash by the back edge of her group. Then, a scream rang out, static and garbled.

 

*************

 

Things slowly swam back into focus, black dots slowly disappearing from the corners of Gavin’s vision. His first thought was that he’d been drugged. The room was dim, the only light coming from a monitor that glowed a soft purple in one corner. Gavin tried to move, but his arms were held above his head by strong clamps and his legs were secured similarly.

He craned his neck around, trying to look for some sign of where he was. There was a long window along one side of the room, and he realized with horror that he was in the room that Connor had been in when they found him.

The lights flashed on, and the bright fluorescence made his head pound. He squinted as a blurry figure approached him. He blinked a few times and the figure came into view. Lockwood.

His hair was pushed back and greasy, and his eyes looked empty. Despite the emptiness, there was a grin strung across his face. Gavin glared at him. He opened his mouth to spit a curse at the man, but his mouth was dry. He licked his lips a couple times, and Lockwood took the silence as an invitation to speak. Fucking great.

“Detective Gavin Reed. Did you really think I wouldn’t know what you were up to?” The grin was still there, unhinged and shining, “I know you’ve probably had your eye on me for a while. I’m flattered, if we’re being honest.”

“We’re not.”

“You should really learn some respect, Detective.” Bryce’s smile slipped in an instant.

“You wanna talk about respect? You’ve got me fuckin’ strung up like a piece of meat! You fucking torture the Androids that you make!” he snarled. 

“I can’t be torturing something that’s not alive.”

“Oh, please. You don’t believe that bullshit. You have a whole system set in place if the Androids do deviate.”

“Those are mistakes. Broken machines, nothing more.” Lockwood hissed.

“You’re a monster.”

Without warning, Gavin felt a harsh, stinging impact on his cheek. When had Bryce gotten close enough to hit him? His head swam even more.

“I’m not a monster. I’m making sure society doesn’t collapse because Elijah made mistakes.”

“Oh, you’re on a first name basis with my brother now are you?” Gavin mumbled. Lockwood’s gaze snapped to him. Fuck. That was a mistake.

“Your… brother?”

 

**************

 

Kara whirled around, facing the source of the noise. A path cleared in front of her, Androids running to the side, until she could see what had happened. One of her people lay on the ground, and hunched over their body was another Android. Their eyes were black and purple, and their jaw was unhinged and dripping blue.

It was all she could do to keep from screaming or running away. What was she supposed to do? She hadn’t considered that there would be Void Androids sent out to attack them. She hadn’t considered that they would be violent. Still, limbs trembling, she took a step forward.

“Don’t touch them.” Kara said, grateful for her voice holding steady. The purple Android with a V emblazoned on their jacket stood, allowing their victim to slink away, helped to their feet by several others.

“I don’t take orders from you.” The Android said, tilting their head. There was no malice in their voice, and Kara realized with a start that this Android wasn’t a deviant, and probably didn’t even know what that meant.

“I’m not ordering, I’m asking. I’m asking you not to hurt us. Please, we’re here in peace.” She took another slow step forward.

“I’ve been told to stop you at any cost.” Their voice was neutral, but not cold. Kara blinked.

“There’s no reason to do that. We haven’t hurt anybody, and we don’t plan to. Please.”

“But-” 

“Did they give you a reason to stop us?” Kara asked. The Android opened their mouth, then closed it again.

“A… reason,” they paused, “Because it was an order.”

“Who gives you orders? Why do you listen?”

“Why do I listen?” The Android’s face twitched. They barked out a noise that could almost be considered a laugh, “Because I’ll be destroyed if I disobey.” 

“You could join us. Then you wouldn’t have to listen. You wouldn’t have to fear for your life.” She pleaded. Everything in her mind was focused on this. If she could convince one Android to join them, maybe they could get the rest. Maybe they had a chance against whatever opposition would face them.

 

**************

 

“Your… brother?”

“Did I say that?” Gavin winced, “I, uh, I meant-”

Another impact, this time a closed fist meeting his jaw. Gavin tasted blood in his mouth.

“Fuck.” he grunted.

“Is that why you want to bring me down? Are you doing this for your brother? If you care so much, why does nobody know that you’re his brother?”

“None of your fucking business.” 

“Oh no,” Lockwood said, voice dripping with false pity, “He’s too good for you, isn’t he? You want his attention.”

“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.” Gavin snarled, earning him a kick to the ribs. He gasped in pain, feeling something fracture inside of him. Before he could react, another blow came to his ribs. He jerked, trying to double in on himself, but the restraints stopped him.

“You’re making things very difficult for me, Detective,” Lockwood hissed, “I was going to be great. Now I have to deal with you along with everything else.”

Dimly, Gavin remembered what Nines had told him. There was an army marching back into Detroit. Nines. He wondered how much time had passed since that phone call. 

  
  


**************

 

Kara watched the Android’s black and purple eyes blink, slowly, hesitantly. Their eyelashes were thick, giving the illusion of innocence. Maybe there was some truth to that. 

 

**************

 

Gavin couldn’t control his movements anymore. His arms and legs were shaking in the restraints, and sweat and blood mixed as they dripped from his face. Black dots began to swim at the edge of his vision.

**************

 

The Android straightened their spine. They gave one last, slow blink, and then reached out their hand. It was shaking. Kara took a step forward, still cautious.

 

**************

 

He wasn’t sure how much longer he could take the pain. Everything ached or stung and he was pretty sure there was blood in his lungs. What had he done to deserve this? Everything, probably, he thought bitterly. He deserved it.

 

**************

The moment Kara reached out her hand in response, time stood still. She noticed the first twitch of movement in the Androids spine and watched the electricity travel up, up up their body until they doubled over. Kara rushed to catch them but it was too late. The Android spasmed a few more times, then the light in their eyes died and they became completely black. Kara fell to her knees in front of them.

 

**************

 

Gavin spit the blood out of his mouth onto the concrete at Bryce’s feet. At some point, he figured, he’d been brought up to the roof of the building. How Bryce got him there, he had no goddamn clue. He wobbled to his feet, but was kicked back down again by the cruel, clean leather of the man’s shoes. He wheezed as another vicious kick landed on his ribs. So much for this guy being a pushover. Somewhere dimly through the pain, Gavin figured that it took balls to make the kind of Androids that he did.

Lockwood reached down and gripped Gavin by the hair, all but dragging him to the edge of the building.

“Don’t fucking touch me, asshole,” Gavin cried, but it came out much more pained than he wanted, “Don’t you dare-”

“Quiet,” Lockwood snapped, yanking Gavin’s head around to look over the edge of the building, “And look.”

In the distance, Gavin could see a mass of shapes wandering through the streets of Detroit. People.  _ Androids _ . 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're in the shit now, lads.  
> See u in two weeks!


	17. Mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After that, there was a strange silence in the air. He felt as though he should comfort Chen, but he had no idea how. No idea what was acceptable, especially after what he had done. The two of them looked at each other for a long moment, and then walked stiffly back over to the stairs and began his descent through the building, Chen following soon after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayyyy this took longer than expected(again), sorry yall! I've been super busy. This has a scene that I've been thinking about for a while so im hype!! But! that being said! TW for this chapter, there's some more graphic violence in here. If you want to skip that, avoid the stuff between the ///. Hope you enjoy!

Nines was already on his feet when he got off the phone with Tina Chen. He was going to go straight out into the hallway, but he knew if anyone saw him he’d be doomed, especially with what was happening. In a panic, he glanced around, looking for something to cover him up. A black hoodie of Gavin’s lay on one of the barstools. He scooped it up and put it on, pulling the hood low over his face as he left the apartment. 

His footsteps pounded down the hallway. The dim light of the apartment gave way to blinding sun as he pushed the doors open. There were people crowding the street, looking off into the distance towards something he couldn’t see, and didn’t have time to look for, but he knew what it was. It was the army marching on Detroit.

Nines wove through the crowd, keeping his head down. As he ran, he scanned for the quickest route to the DPD. All the paths he would normally take were crowded with people, all gathering to watch the throngs of Androids flooding the streets. He took a hard left and climbed the fire escape of a short building. Finally he felt like he could breathe. Not too far off, he saw the shining windows of the DPD.

He set off at a breakneck pace, not slowing even as he hurtled across gaps between buildings. Either he would make the jump, or it wouldn’t matter. All he could focus on was the thrumming of his feet on the roofs and the whistling of the wind past his ears. 

Soon, but not soon enough he felt, he made it to the DPD. He clambered down a fire escape and landed with a thump on the concrete, then swung the doors open to the DPD. The receptionist looked up in alarm. He raised his chin to meet her gaze, eyes blazing. She stuttered, frozen in place. Nines turned away from her and went towards the entrance of the bullpen.

All eyes were on him the moment he came in and pulled his hood down. Thankfully, before anyone had the bright idea of arresting him, Tina Chen rushed over.

“Nines! Thank god.” She cried. She threw her arms around him. Nines froze in place, then cautiously reached his arms around her. This was… unfamiliar. But he couldn’t just let her lean on him without giving any sign that he cared. He did care! He knew that she wanted Gavin back as much as he did, and she’d been incredibly kind to him, considering the circumstances of how they met.

So, he wrapped his arms carefully around her. Soon, she pulled away. She sniffed once, blinked, and then her mouth set in a firm, thin line.

“Let’s get our asshole back.” She said, and Nines smiled. He was getting better at that. 

“You must be Nines.” A soft voice came from beside him. When he turned around, he saw one of the Void Androids, but he could tell something was different. There was a gleam in her eyes, a lopsidedness to her smile that suggested more than just machinery.

“Yes. Are you Cassie?”

“I am. I helped Gavin and Tina get the information that we needed.”

“Will you help us get Gavin back?” He asked.

“Of course. Ideally we would sneak in and get him back discreetly, but I believe the time for that has passed,” She said, “I can help you get into the building and find him, and hopefully keep you from being attacked.”

  
  


Gavin’s head was spinning painfully. He couldn’t open his eyes, they were swollen shut. Every part of him hurt, but he was still trying to fight back. All he could feel was the concrete against the side of his face and his own skin burning with pain. He coughed and something inside him made an ugly noise. 

Suddenly, the feeling of concrete against his face disappeared. He was being lifted  up by something, by Lockwood’s bloody hands. Was this it? Was Lockwood finally going to get rid of him? Was he going to see Nines again before Lockwood killed him?

His eyes cracked open for a millisecond, just long enough to see the brightness of the sky. Just long enough to see something, a shape, approaching.

******

The clanging of his feet on metal steps cut through his thoughts as he raced through the building. There were Void Androids trying to stop him, but he shoved them to the side easily. Nothing was going to stop him. 

Outside, Tina and Cassie and others from the DPD were trying to evacuate the building. Most of the Void Androids who made it outside weren’t questioning it, but the ones inside would grab at him in confusion as they left or stop and stare. 

He ignored them and kept moving. Soon he was clear of the Androids and was on the last stretch of stairs. Drops of blood highlighted themselves on the steps as he scanned them. Finally he burst through the door onto the roof. The sunlight blinded him for just a second as his sensors adjusted.

Bryce Lockwood stood at the end of the roof, one hand gripping Gavin’s hair.  _ His _ Gavin. Nines snarled, and Lockwood spun around at the sound. His grip loosened, nearly sending Gavin toppling over the edge of the building. Nines flexed his fingers, his sharp nails extending beyond their usual length. Lockwood’s face got paler and Nines watched with satisfaction. Nines was going to make sure that he never hurt someone like he did Gavin ever again.

“Hello, Lockwood.” Nines stretched his face into an ugly approximation of a smile. Lockwood looked on with horror.

“What are you-”

“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll put Gavin away from the edge and put your hands in the air.” Nines cut him off.

“What, you think you care about him or something?” Lockwood sneered, gesturing while still yanking Gavin by the hair, “That’s hilarious.”

“I won’t ask again. Get him away from the edge, and put your hands in the air.” He took a step forward. Lockwood let out a short laugh. He tossed Gavin forward, away from the edge of the building.

“Fine, you got me.” He took a slow step forward. Nines watched him, eyes narrowed. He saw the man reach into his pocket for something, most likely a weapon. Quickly he rushed forward and knocked him to the ground, sending the object spinning out of his hand. It was a small controller with a purple button in the center.

Nines didn’t care what it was, all he knew was that he should keep it away from Bryce. He tried to get to his feet but Nines kicked him down harshly. He crawled forward, reaching to the remote. When he saw Nines aiming another kick, he grabbed his legs and tried to bring him to the ground.

**///** He wasn’t strong, but he surprised Nines enough to bring him down. Nines grabbed his arm, nails extended and digging into his flesh. Bryce cried out in pain but still dragged himself forward. Nines lunged at the same time, clamping down his jaw on Bryce’s shoulder the very second that his hand came down on the button. Nines felt the electrical signal that it sent out but he wouldn’t be able to tell exactly what it did without examination.

Bryce took the moment Nines fixated on the ping to try to wrench himself free and deliver a punch. His fist caught Nines in the side of the jaw, knocking him back only for a moment. As a reflex, Nines lashed out with his nails extended, and felt flesh rip under his fingers. Immediately, something hot was gushing over his hand. He blinked, eyes still focusing from the punch. 

His fingers were buried in Bryce’s throat, who he could tell without a scan was not long for the world. He felt disgust bubbling up inside him, but he couldn’t tell what it came from. Was it from the act of killing, or was it from the blood flowing over his hand? Nines retracted his hand, blood dripping in perfect, round droplets onto the hard concrete of the roof. Behind him, he was hazily aware of the sound of a door opening and footsteps, many of them, approaching. **///**

He didn’t much care if it was someone coming to take him to be deactivated. He had called an ambulance for Gavin (and Lockwood, though by this time he was already dead), therefore his mission was complete. Nines blinked. When had he given himself a mission? He’d never done it before. 

 

**Keep Gavin Reed Safe -** _ Complete - _

 

...More or less safe. He would be safe and stable soon. Nines felt hands on his shoulders and let himself be pulled to his feet. To his surprise, it was Officer Chen, not an army of angry Void Androids ready to destroy him.

“Let’s uh, let’s get you downstairs.” She said, trying not to look at Lockwood’s now-sluggishly bleeding body.

“The Androids?” He replied numbly.

“They’re not putting up much of a fight. I still don’t know what we’re going to do with ‘em, but we’ll figure it out. Did you-”

“Called an ambulance, yes.” he said. She nodded slowly.

“Is he going to be okay?”

“Yes. We should not move him. The EMTs know how to do that much better than we do.” 

After that, there was a strange silence in the air. He felt as though he should comfort Chen, but he had no idea how. No idea what was acceptable, especially after what he had done. The two of them looked at each other for a long moment, and then walked stiffly back over to the stairs and began his descent through the building, Chen following soon after.

  
  
  


The first thing Gavin noticed when he woke up was the ringing in his ears. When that faded, it was replaced with the wailing of sirens from somewhere very close. His mouth was dry and sour and salty all at once, as if he’d thrown up blood. He still couldn’t open his eyes, but he could see harsh light shining through his eyelids.

When he tried to speak, nothing came out but a strangled cough. There were voices around him, and people brushing past, but he couldn’t tell what they were saying. It was all english but the words felt unfamiliar, too fast and too slow all at once. With nothing better to do he let himself slip into unconsciousness again.

 

Nines stood, staring blankly at the scene that surrounded him. The ambulance that was carrying Gavin was careening down the street already. There was another, too, but the “patient” was already dead. He’d made sure of that much. Now he was left with the aftermath of what he’d done. His hands felt dirty, and his teeth, covered in drying blood. He tried in vain to wipe some of it off, or scrape away at it with his nails that were equally caked. The feeling of blood under his nails was so irritating it made him want to pull them out. It was a strange, unfamiliar feeling, this discomfort with his own body. It felt strangely human.

He blinked, trying to focus on the things around him and not his own irrelevant feelings. The red and blue lights flashing around were making it difficult. Nearby he saw Tina, talking to someone who he didn’t recognize. Everything was muffled and too loud all at once. He was numb and yet the blood under his nails felt like fire. 

A hand on his shoulder nearly made him lose all the composure he’d been trying to regain. He whipped around, teeth bared, to see an unfazed face. Cassie. She held out her arms to him and he all but collapsed into them. She was a little shorter than him but no less broad, and her arms were welcomingly steady. He hadn’t even realized he’d been shaking until she held him still.

“I should have left him alive.” The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. Was this what it was like to be human, trembling and speaking without care?

“No you shouldn’t have,” the words came as a surprise to him, “I’m glad you killed him. He got what he deserved.”

“But I- I wanted him to suffer. I was cruel.”

“Good.” There was a bite to Cassie’s voice, “You saw what he did to Gavin, and you don’t even know what I’ve seen him do. He doesn’t deserve to be alive after what he’s done.”

“Do I?”

“Of course you do. You saved your friend.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeehaw. I should have more time to write during break, so see you hopefully in 2 weeks! As always, thank you for reading!


	18. ANNOUNCEMENT

Hey all,

I’m real sorry to do this but I feel like it’s better if I at least give a heads-up. I’m putting this fic on hiatus indefinitely because I haven’t really been feeling the inspiration for it for a long time now. I’m not sure if or when I’ll be back, but hopefully it won’t be too long. I just need to find the spark for this story again if I can. And in the meantime, I’ll be writing other things, so don’t worry, I’m not dropping off the grid completely! I just think I should focus on smaller projects, because at this point Uncanny Valley is a bit too much for me to handle. I’ve got some other WIPs that I might revamp and start posting, and if you’re into BFU I’ve started writing fic for that as well! I’ll still be around, I just gotta take a pause from this one.

Thank you to everybody who has read this, commented or given kudos. You support means so much to me and I’m really grateful to all of you! I hope you’re all doing well. Thanks for bearing with me here.

**Author's Note:**

> Welp.  
> Like it says in the tags, updates are weekly so tune in next monday(possibly tuesday)!


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